The stuff of life

Tuesday was rather mundane, but since most days are, I thought I’d record it.

[Note: Please excuse my cell phone photos; the convenience of the phone trumps the quality of the Canon these days. Please also excuse the random nature of the fonts and font sizes. I can't make everything the same/normal today. I've given up.]

My morning at home with Gavin and Tyler consisted of a treadmill workout for me, cleaning the house for the showing call that never came, and doing a little shopping. I’ve been on the prowl for an Easter “something” for the boys that has been surprisingly hard to find since Easter is a very feminine holiday. I found some cute ties for the big boys at Gymboree (and TDF head-to-toe outfits if I had a chunk of change to drop on each kid) but nothing quite right for Gavin. We hit a few other stores with the same result: no luck. Tyler did enjoy posing in this bunny display, however, and we did find a coordinating tie for Daddy-o.

Tyler and I later worked on his talk for Primary on Sunday. Given the Easter theme, it wasn’t too hard to write. Tyler already has parts of it memorized. I’m excited for him to give his first talk.

After lunch, Tyler colored and Gavin played on the floor while I checked email. I was not two feet away when Tyler colored all over one of Gavin’s new outfits with a marker. What is the deal? Luckily the marker is washable….

At 2:20 we trekked over to Tobias to pick up Zachary. Once back at home Zach and I worked on some spelling words and handwriting. He is making progress! Then we had snacks and vegetated for a while.

At 4:30 I was going stir-crazy, so we went outside. None of the neighbor kids could play, so the boys rode their bikes and played basketball and football while I read a book.

My sweet neighbor, Kathy, came over to give Gavin an awesome hat she knitted this week. She showed it to me as she explained this big “Afgans for Afgans” charity project she learned to knit for, and only after I oohed and aahhed over the little hat did she give it to me. Apparently that was her intent all along. It’s a very cute beanie for a very cute baby!

From the corner where I spent most of my time watching the boys, I kept looking at two things: our For Sale sign and the flowers next to our house. We added this sign rider to entice people inside. The two other houses for sale on our street are soooo lame, but they’re unoccupied and clients can see them whenever they want. We think they see those houses and have no interest in ours, even though it’s great inside!

The crocuses in the flower bed are past their prime, but the few daffodils that came back are so pretty right now. I’m actually itching to plant new stuff in the flower bed so it looks nicer than this when potential buyers come through. Plus I want to do something different this year and I’ll be a little sad if I don’t get to.

When we came back inside, it wasn’t quite dinnertime, so I went upstairs with Gavin for a bit of laundry and computer stuff. I returned to the kitchen to heat up our leftovers for dinner and found Zach with very red hands and Tyler with very blue hands and a rainbow of colors all over the kitchen floor. Why Tyler decided to climb on the counter and get the food coloring down from the top cabinet shelf is beyond me. I guess he needed to express his artistic side today.

Garry came home just after I finished mopping the kitchen floor (certain grout lines will need special attention to remove the dye). We had a quick meal together and then I escaped to a Doom Squad meeting. The Doom Squad is just a group of ladies in our ward that get together and work on emergency preparedness projects – long and short-term food storage, sanitation kits, cannery assignments, etc. Last night’s presentation was on 72-hour food/equipment kits. I came away feeling equal parts inspired and overwhelmed.

Tuesday ended with Tillamook mint chip ice cream and American Idol. Not quite as gung-ho as the morning, but I definitely enjoyed it! And then, incredibly, Gavin slept until 5:30 a.m. What a gift!

So there you have it: a day in my life. If such details leave you yawning, you're in good company: they have the same effect on me every day!