Yesterday

Yesterday was an eventful day.

I gave Q a bath and when he was thoroughly washed, I scooped him up and wrapped him in his towel and he happily toddled away toward his room.  I put away a few things and followed right behind him...only to step (barefooted) on something that belongs in a diaper.  And it wasn't the liquid kind.  It was not a pleasant feeling.  I don't know how he managed it so quickly.  There happened to be another pile of the same sort in his bedroom.  I love surprises for the most part, but this one was slightly distressing to say the least.  So, I took a deep breath, dug deep down into Cleanup Mommy Mode and whisked away all vile traces.

Later I couldn't seem to find Dennis anywhere and he finally sauntered casually in from the garage with a permanent marker clipped to his shirt front.  I was immediately worried.  I asked him what he had colored on and noticed his shirt and shorts had the tell-tale signs.  After some creative interrogations, he finally gave in and led me to the garage where he had tagged the door, the refrigerator, the van, his bike, a tool, a folding chair, a ball, a tote, a cupboard door and a box...as far as I could see.  He repeatedly told me he was sorry and that he didn't know it was a permanent one.  I still don't understand how using a regular marker would have been any different.  Luckily it wiped right off the van...but his path of destruction is still visible on everything else. Apparently he still has some tricks up his sleeve.

Then finally, the three of us went shopping (after I hand-watered our new lawn that is just sprouting, because some of our sprinklers are broken) and everything ran at its usual crazy normalness.  We bought a ton of groceries and a plant for the front yard and some curtain rods and material...then headed to another store to get a big shade tree and some stakes.  The kids love driving in our big truck, so picking up the tree was a treat for them.  I think they love sitting so high and feeling the rumble of the diesel engine.  Anyway, our afternoon was going swimmingly and  we came home and the little boys helped me unload groceries and plants and stakes and pavers.  We had pizza and Oreos for lunch.  It was good times.

When the big kids got home from school, I had Miss B help me dig a hole and plant the bush in the front yard.  We fertilized it and got the drip set up and everything running smoothly.  The boys were having a great time in the backyard jumping on the trampoline.  After I checked on some laundry, emails and gave my new orange trees some TLC, it was time for a laundry folding party.  Miss B and I started in while Mr. C and Dennis did some other chores.  That's when I noticed the third big fiasco of the day.  There were nasty red streaks in the dryer indicating someone had left a crayon in their clothes.  UGHH! So then I spent the next good bit going through the clothes to find all the ones with melted crayon on them.  I will tackle them later with a special crayon removing recipe.  But for now they will sit in a pile, or a bag if I am really ambitious.  At least after that the kids and I played Apples to Apples (while we put together their Teacher Appreciation gifts) and I won, which helped ease the sting of the red crayon episode.

Then later, the kids were looking through my gift bag collection for a bag to hold their teacher's gifts and while they were looking the other way, Q came and dumped a bunch of water inside the old suitcase that houses all my gift wrapping supplies.  Double UGHH!  So we threw away the casualties and spread the salvageable ones around the house to dry.

When Dad got home, we planted, staked and fertilized the shade tree in the backyard...and all in the dark.  The kids took turns holding the flashlight.  Then I spent the next hour or so rearranging dirt on all the trees we've planted in the last few days to even out all the mounds and make sure all the soil was tamped down sufficiently, etc. etc.  Dad had since retired indoors to work on the Pinewood Derby car for its debut tonight.  The two of us stayed up until the wee hours of the morn working on how to attach weights plus make the durn thing look cool all at the same time.  It was frustrating and painfully funny.  And in the process we ruined the paint job so I am now off to salvage it...

And that was all of my eventful, productive, crazy, and fiasco-filled day.

Also, this is what my house looked like last night.  Raise your hand if you believe me.



ETA:  The above picture is not a picture from that actual day. The house was trashed! I was being sarcastic, because there were gift bags and tissure paper everywhere, Pinewood Derby car paint and weights and glue ALL over the dining room table, not to mention the dishes, laundry, tree planting supplies and tracked mud all through the kitchen. It's just nice to have a picture of the house clean because then I know it has the potential.