Stuck Inside

So, according to my calendar, it is Spring.  According to the weather in Pittsburgh... not so much.  This is what it looked like in my back yard, one day last week...

Notice the pine cone bird feeder, that Dylan made at school?  Yea, um, we haven't seen too many birds.  I think they turned back around and went south.  I'm thinking of joining them.  Today, the sun is shining brightly... but it is 36 degrees.

Since we have been stuck inside, I have come to the sudden realization that I need to take a day and go through Dylan's toys.  As his play gets more and more creative, it gets harder and harder to avoid having my home look like a toy store delivery truck explosion.

(These are "volcanoes").

(3 Points if you can guess the theme.  And, no, the theme wasn't "big mess", as I previously thought).

Dylan's favorite thing to do lately seems to be to take small pieces from EVERY single game, box, bin, etc, and load them into other bags, bins, etc.  Clean up is fun, let me tell you.

I was talking to a friend while her son, and Dylan played, and I asked her how she controls the toy clutter with 3 boys.  She keeps toys in a locked shelving unit, and they have to clean up one thing before asking permission to take out something else.  I get the logic, but I just couldn't do it.  I WILL put some of the toys in the spare room for a while, and cycle through them periodically, but I will also keep reminding myself daily that CREATIVITY IS MESSY.

This is unrelated, but I just had to share, since it is my buddy Jenn's birthday today!

(His birthday card for "Pop-Pop")

Trick?

This is what someone might have been screaming in her car on the way to work this morning...

"HEY PITTSBURGH PEOPLE!! I THINK I SEE A FEW FLAKES OF THE WHITE STUFF!! YES, PLEASE!! YOU MUST SLOW YOUR VEHICLES TO A STEADY CRAWL, SO THAT I WILL BE LATE FOR WORK!! IN OCTOBER!! DUE TO SNOW!! AARRGGHH!!!"

(I was tired, and cold, and cranky. Today, it was in the 30's. On Friday, Halloween, it is to be 58 degrees. I'm thinking October played a trick today, and is saving the treat for Friday, because October realizes that freezing little children's costume clad buns off is not funny.)