What a MUDDY mess!!!

Today when the kids got home from school, TJ said it looked like a nice day to jump on the tramp. I said, "Heck yeah!! Go for it!" Of course, not realizing what I had just done to myself. A few minutes later Braxton came running through the living room asking me if he could change his pants. When I went and saw him I just about died. His pants and shoes were completely smothered in mud. Not just a little splash of mud either. This was thick, thick mud. You couldn't see any color on his shoes or pants at all. I hurried and grabbed him and put him outside on the front door step and, lo and behold, who did I see come around the corner? TJ and Tyra and they were covered in mud too. Tyra had slipped and fell so it was all up the back of her pants and coat. TJ wasn't too bad, but way to muddy to come in the house. I made them all strip down outside and then they all had to carry their clothes into the bath tub. I REALLY wasn't very happy. TJ told me that he was sorry and so I was trying to tell him that if he had just asked me first, then he could have put on some play clothes and then it wouldn't have been a big deal. So then, what did he say? "Mom, if we put play clothes on, can we go back out and play???"

Well, I just remembered how much fun I had playing in the mud when I was a kid, so I decided to let them. The time I remember best was when my sisters and I decided to dig our way to China! We dug a HUGE whole. After a while, we didn't seem to be getting any closer to China, so we decided that it would be super fun to fill our hole with water and make a swimming pool. My dad wasn't too happy when he got home and saw what we did, but it sure was fun to play in!!!!

Shortly after all the kids ran out to play, TJ came in and said that Braxton had gotten stuck in the mud. I went out to see and I just couldn't help but take some pictures. He was so upset about it, but it really was quite funny. After I helped him get out, he couldn't put his boot back on because it was too full of mud. That made him even more upset. After a few more pictures my fingers started to freeze.
Time for strip down number 2! Now, for the second set of muddy clothes that had to be sent to the bath tub. What a MESS!! I let them soke while we went to TJ’s Gold and Blue Scout Banquet. After I had put the kids to bed, I was just about to cuddle up with my warm blanket and try to get to bed at a decent time when all of the sudden, I remembered that I had a mountain of muddy clothes in the bath tub. It took FOREVER to get them all washed out. Yuck!!!!

But you know what? A little hard work is worth the smiles on my kids faces when they're playing in the mud. They have liked to do this about once or twice a year, from the time they were very little. Until today it had always been in the Spring or Summer though, so I could just hose them down with water before they came back in the house. But it was WAY too cold to do that. We still have SNOW all over the place here. What CRAZY KIDS!! Brrrr!!
Above is a picture from when the kids were real little! TJ and his friend Ben dug a big hole in the dirt and that brought back MY muddy memories, so I let them fill their hole with water. I know I'm a crazy mom sometimes, but the kids LOVED it!!!