A good day

(I meant to post this a few days ago, but it still applies)

Don't you love it when you are expecting a difficult day and it turns out differently? My husband says I am a pessimist, but I prefer to think of myself as a realist. We just spent the last ten days in Orlando- a trip that was somewhat exhausting, but well worth the effort (I'll post pictures later). We got home late last night and I knew the morning was going to be rough- getting James back to school, refilling an empty fridge, getting Christian to the pediatrician by 9 am for some yucky shots, unpacking and cleaning a filthy car and getting everything put away. You get the picture.
I managed to get out the door on time, but we got stuck behind a semi-truck going up the mountain. All you who are locals know what that means- 7 miles an hour up the hill. I groaned inwardly and prepared for the bad day ahead, but wonder of wonders he actually pulled to the side of the road after only a few tedious minutes and we were off. I dropped James at school and made it to the doctor just in time. Our pediatrician is so great- and I was so encouraged when she asked me if I had
"celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ." I know we live in the South where these things might not be so uncommon, but it is still wonderful to exchange a "He is risen indeed!" with a stranger. Anyways- the shots were no fun, but Christian is as healthy and strong as a little guy at two months can be and just beginning to smile.
I was further encouraged at the grocery store when almost everything I needed to buy was on huge discount "today only". I guess I picked the right day to go shopping- even my favorite cookies were on sale, so I splurged a bit. But munching a cookie in the car made me thirsty, and driving by Starbucks was too much of a temptation for me, so I thought I might just get a house coffee. I gave the barista my cup and asked for the brew of the day as I reached into my bag for some cash. I started to hand him the money but he said, "This one is on the house today." Just like that- a free coffee for no reason!
I know they seem like little things, but just knowing there are nice people in the world is still a boost.
And when it came time to clean out the yucky car, James offered to vacuum it for me. I was thrilled. Granted, he and Etienne decided it would be fun to see what would happen if they sucked a bunch of toilet paper into the hose, thereby clogging the whole thing and making me spend half an hour getting it unclogged, but he did finish the job afterwards.
Then we spent the afternoon working in the yard which is growing beautifully and then I found out some very good friends of ours are moving back to town.
And if that wasn't enough to make me smile at the end of a not so bad day, this was.

Another Perk

So another perk of having boys is the bugs.
I stumbled across this beauty whilst digging in my yard yesterday and instead of smashing it to death with my spade as I was immediately tempted to do, it somehow made its way into a jar on my countertop.



Now I wouldn't consider myself as an arachniphobe. The only bug I really run screaming from is a cockroach, but I must admit this guy gave me the willies. I know it looks like a huge tarantula-type in the picture, but in reality it was only an inch and a half long or so. That's big enough for me though. The boys, of course, wanted to know what kind of spider it was, and I was curious to know if it might be, you know, venomous in a deadly sort of way, so I jumped onto my surfboard and hit the internet. Let me tell you that after half an hour of looking at the creepiest eight-legged creatures on earth, my latent arachniphobia was emerging. My skin was literally crawling and I had to wipe the cold perspiration off of my brow. There are some crazy spiders out there folks!

This particular specimen turned out to be a trapdoor spider of the female variety. And its bite produces only mild discomfort. It was a very informative experience and I was able to introduce my boys to pictures of the black widow spider, so now they know to run screaming if they ever see that little red hourglass. They spent the rest of the evening taking turns staring at it in the jar, and only once did I have to intervene to keep it from escaping into my home. James wanted to know when it would start laying eggs. At that point I was ready to say goodbye, so currently our little friend is visiting James's kindergarten class(hopefully permanently). I am sure his teacher is thanking me right now.

Four!

So my mom flew down for a last minute trip last week. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the few days she was here, but we had such a sweet time of visiting and getting things done around here. Thanks so much for coming mom! And it was so great to have someone from the family here to help celebrate Etienne's fourth birthday. I didn't get very many good pictures from his little party either, so here are a few favorites from the last four years.

Etienne

We love you Etienne!