Dreary Day

It started out a dreary day. Ya know, one of those days where you just feel dreary. Do you know what makes you feel even more dreary on a dreary day? The fact that you can't think up a good solid reason to be dreary. That's just enough to push you over the edge. Without a good reason to throw a rockin' pity party in which you can conjure up all the reasons-why-everyone-should-be-knocking-on-your-door-and-telling-you-how-hard-you-have-it-as-they-spoon-feed-you-chocolate-cake-and-give-you-a-foot-massage, you are just left with dreary. Understand? Well, since the party wasn't an option, I decided to accomplish something. I had all these projects and ideas on my mind and did not know where to begin.

Tackle that junk pile that accumulates next to the washer? (Don't pretend you don't have your own junk pile - or 2......or 4).


Continue writing the music to Brooke's song. Sadly that option isn't available until I replace my speakers that have died. (I'm no Beethoven - I've gotta hear it to believe it). Otherwise, writing music is a fabulous thing to do on a dreary day!

Finish quilting and binding Ethan's quilt (my goal was to have it done by the time he was 2 - "was" being the key word in that sentence).

Start working on Asher's quilt. Here he is snuggling up to scraps. Poor kid.

I was determined to accomplish something. I decided to work on the kids beds (sanding and painting). I told McKenzie that if she wanted to come sand beds with me, she could have McKenzie Time before quiet time. Otherwise we'd do something after quiet time. She came out with me and pulled up a cooler to sit on. It was the saddest sight: McKenzie sitting on a cooler watching me with a blare-your-ears-out sander; Quite the quality McKenzie Time.

A few minutes into my rather important project, I looked up to see McKenzie with pants rolled up and muddy feet. She said something like "Why would you want to do that, when you could play in the mud?" I thought, "Dreary day or no dreary day, this is pretty low to try and fanagle myself out of McKenzie Time". Besides, Why would I rather do this when I could be playing in the mud? Why why why why.

And this folks, was the first real moment I didn't feel quite so dreary. Toes squished in mud can have that affect. Especially while squishing to the music of 4-year-old laughter. I actually felt like a child for a moment. I might as well have had braids in my hair tied off on the ends with bright red yarn bows - ya know, the kind that only the 80s could produce.

And so McKenzie started the process of lifting my spirits and each family member had a turn before the day was done....

Ethan found a caterpillar. And couldn't have been happier.

This kind of excitement has a tendency to rub off.

I caught Asher saying a prayer with his naked chubby arms. This kind of squishiness has a tendency to make a person smile (even if it dishevels a dreary day).

Jason came home excited to open a package he had ordered last week. It was a book called "Zoom". He cut out the pictures and laid them randomly across the floor so the kids could help figure out the order they should go in. The first picture is a small planet. Each picture zooms closer and closer until you get to the very top of a roosters head.

This kind of family time has a tendency to magically transform a dreary day into a delightful day.

I love my family!

And that is the end of my perfectly good dreary day.