Cell phone stories, etc.

I often laugh at the randomness that is my life when I download photos from my cell phone.

This week, Gavin earned his very first "consequence chore."  He emptied the dishwasher because he said some bad words.  I'm not sure the punishment part really sunk in, though.  As he cheerfully worked, he kept saying things like, "This is so much fun.  I love emptying the dishwasher for the first time ever!"  He has since completed this chore several times, much to our mutual delight.

Kate continues her sickly ways.  For the last several days she has added mid-nightly (or more often) vomiting to her general malaise and discontent.  The days are mighty long. One afternoon we resorted to sitting in the driveway (for about an hour) until Dad came home.

I took Kate to the doctor Monday only to find out her illness is "a cold."  That was an excellent use of my time, money, and limited sanity.

 Zach is learning to ride a unicycle.

It's official: my ten-year-old is taller than I am.

During one of her brief episodes of wellness, Kate enjoyed some French fries for dinner.  (I'll be signing autographs as Mother of the Year soon...)

I did tons of yard work this week.  I think our trash barrel is two-thirds full of yard waste. Plus there's a giant pile of tree limbs on the side of the house.  This is just a tiny part of that pile.  I had a little too much fun with the pruning shears.

Will wonders never cease?  Watercolors entertained these three children for an hour. They won't jump on the trampoline or play on the swings, but they will paint.  I don't get it.

In preparation for house guests and a fun party this weekend, Garry helped me tackle my to-do list.  At the top was cleaning the wood floor.  I could not get over how much easier that job was with his help.  And the finished product was so glorious that I took a picture so I could bask in the cleanliness a little longer.  The next day, Garry came home from work and expressed his dismay at the [dirty] state of the floor.  Yep.  It's amazing what 18 hours will do...

Garry's parents and grandma are in town for the weekend.  I'll have a full post about their visit later.

And two things that really tickled my funny bone this week:

My friend Sandy sent me this AWESOME photo, which I would love to replicate for all of my children to wear in public:

Equally funny is this cartoon Garry found online the other day.  It is such an accurate reflection of my life, and explains why I adore email, Facebook, and texting. This facet of my life is probably why my ability to generate small talk in face-to-face conversation is severely lacking.