When it gets quiet

When the kids are playing together and all of a sudden it gets very quiet, you just know it is bound to be a bad sign - some of the things I have found when the sudden quiet has descended on our house are:

• Two little boys sitting on top of the bookshelves in the playroom, throwing wipes over the ledge so they fall down on the stairs

• Jake trying to teach Travis how to go potty by "pretending" to go potty in the bathroom

• Tape, on everything because they got into the spare room, and stole the tape and decided to use it 

• Jake coloring himself, his shirt, his shorts, and the dog blue - with a sharpie

• They have closed themselves in the dog crate and are eating snacks

• They are in my room with the door closed, jumping on the bed

• They are on top of the pile of moving boxes in the dining room

• Jake is "washing things" in the bathroom sink

• They are "painting" my countertops with yogurt, applesauce, milk, macaroni, or almost any other food-like substance that they have within their reach

But sometimes, and only very rarely, things are actually all going right, and the two little boys have cleaned their playroom, and are both quietly drawing on magnadoodles - but of course this is the exception to the rule.

(yeah, I know the picture is from a year ago, but they are playing with a magnadoodle)