What’s normal, anyway?

I’ll start tonight by saying thanks to Magen for having awesome quote on her blog. Here it is:

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.

-Camus

So, so true.

Today was more than a little random. Here’s a quick summary:

• Emmaline was “sick” today and thoroughly enjoyed her day home with me and Max.
• I took a nap today.
• I took a nap today because Ernie had to go back into work last night to be present when they searched the lockers on 2nd shift and I couldn’t sleep until he got home.
• I went to Sonic 3 times today. Don’t ask.
• Well, alright, I’ll tell you. I went to Sonic first for happy hour. Second, because immediately after pulling out of Sonic I realized that I had forgotten to get Max his grilled cheese sandwich and he was crying so I went back through and got it for him. Third, because there was nowhere else to go after I picked Ernie up from Cub Scouts and we had to wait for the sheriff to arrive and remove the rabid dogs who had taken over my yard and wouldn’t leave my driveway.
• I suppose you could say that the dogs weren’t exactly rabid- but they did bite two boys on our street.
• The kids were in heaven when we got back from Sonic and the dogs were tied with rope to one of our trees, all of our neighbors were standing outside giving statements to the sheriff, and an actual police car was parked in front of our house.

Good times at the Smith house today.

Max likes me!

You may be thinking, “of course Max likes you, you’re his mom!” and you would be partially right. Sure Max likes me just fine when no one else is home, or when he wants a fuzzy or a sippy cup of milk. He tolerates running errands with me and he likes it when I take him to Sonic and order him a grilled cheese sandwich.

But all of my virtues disappear when this guy walks in the door.

Max has had a clear preference for Ernie pretty much since he was able to express a preference. I always joke that it’s because Ernie delivered him.

Funny story, that. No- Max was not born in the car or at home and we got to the hospital in plenty of time. The doctor was really laid back who delivered Max and when he came in to check on us he turned to Ernie and asked him if it was true that this was our fourth child. Ernie confirmed. Then the doctor asked Ernie if he wanted to deliver Max. (Now if you know Ernie at all, then you already know his answer- which was a resounding “yes!”). Ernie has waited his whole life to deliver a baby. He read all about it when I was pregnant with Little Ernie- just in case he needed to deliver. So when it came time for Max to be born, the doctor had the nurse get Ernie some scrubs and gloves and help him get washed up. And that’s how Ernie ended up being the very first person to touch Max.

 

I’ve become accustomed to all this Daddy Love and while it’s true, very occasionally it’s hurt my feelings, in general I’ve accepted that given a choice: Max will choose Ernie instead of me. There are have been serious advantages to this arrangement, to be sure.

Anyhoo- that explains how incredible it is that this weekend, while he was sick, Max has decided that I’m not so bad. He seeks me out for snuggles and he keeps coming over to me and saying, “love poo, Mommy” (since he has somehow misheard the word “you”). He is still just extremely excited whenever he sees Daddy, but it’s been nice to get a little bit of that awesome Max love too.

Some More Marriage Thoughts

Ernie suggested recently that we write out a list of the qualities we deemed essential in a potential spouse. He thought that it would be a good way to evaluate how we’re doing with meeting each others needs. So we both sat down and envisioned ourselves as single and seeking a potential mate. What would we look for? Which qualities and traits mattered most to us? I will be honest, this exercise frightened me a little. I mean, quite truthfully I was worried that I might not measure up to his list. Because Ernie and I have been together for 15 years now and we’ve both changed a lot. What if he’d become dissatisfied with me and our life together and I hadn’t recognized his dissatisfaction?

We wrote our lists and no, we did not meet every single quality on each other’s lists. But we were really, really close. In the essentials, I was reassured. It was a good reminder to not become complacent. Just because Ernie and I are happy now, it doesn’t mean that we will be in 5 years. We can’t just put our marriage on auto-pilot and hope that things stay the same (because they surely won’t). The lists also refocused our relationship a little bit. There were some things on Ernie’s list that I do now, but that I could certainly improve on and do better.

Ernie said it well last night, as we talked about a different topic entirely, that any relationship of significance (friends, family, spouse, children) requires from us a certain level of self-sacrifice. It makes us better people to put others first instead of only thinking of ourselves.

So at this point I’ll just say thanks for listening to my musings on this subject. Being married to Ernie makes me happy and I’d like to do everything I can to make sure that never changes.

Poor Baby

Max wouldn’t go to sleep last night, but I thought he was just resisting bed time. I changed my mind at 3:30am this morning when the puking started. Poor kid has thrown up all day. He also resisted naptime today (truthfully I was worried about the very real possibility of him puking on his bed) so I’ve let him stay up and be with me- which is all he wants right now anyways. He finally passed out on the couch at 5pm this afternoon. Poor baby.

Mississippi Paradise

I have a deep love of gardening and that definitely includes vegetable gardening. My interest in gardening went from casual hobby to mild obsession while we lived in Indiana a few years ago. Winter in Indy starts around the end of October and the snow isn’t totally melted and gone until mid-May. Those long winters set me mildly (some years more then mildly) crazy and the thing that kept me sane was garden planning. In the evenings after the kids went to bed I diagrammed and plotted and read seed catalogues and studied gardening books. I familiarized myself with all types of bugs and studied the debate between pesticides and organic bug control. I had a small yard in Indiana and I compensated by practicing Square Foot Gardening and planting in raised beds.

Here in Mississippi my yard is 100% shady and there is no place to even attempt a garden. I’ve been fretting over this since I just don’t feel quite right not growing food in the summer. I mentioned my dilemma to my dear friend Krista and asked if she, or someone she could recommend, might have a little space for me to plant just a couple of rows. Krista said that I would be welcome to join their garden and since inviting me in, she has invited our mutual friend Fiona to join as well. I worried that Krista’s family might feel like we were taking up too much room and Krista assured me that there was no need to worry about that since Jason (her husband) could always go out and plow up some more ground. Then she walked me over to the garden spot and I could see her point. I think we’ve got plenty of room.

Today we all met and started the planting. We actually could have started the planting a week and half ago (Mississippi winters are definitely the opposite of Indiana winters). Today we planted lots of types of tomatoes, corn, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, basil, parsley, different types of peppers, cucumbers, and green beans. Krista and Jason already have lettuce, onions, potatoes, and carrots in the ground. Emmaline and Max and Ernie helped with the planting. Nigel thoroughly enjoyed playing in the dirt. And since I wouldn’t let Max wear his heavy coat, he insisted on wearing his snow hat to compensate.

The kids were so excited to play at Krista’s house today. It’s pretty much their version of paradise.

A Perfect Friday Night

• 73 degrees and sunny means open windows and pleasant breezes
• Kids playing outside
• Little Ernie making his own tomato soup and grilled cheese
• Ernie coming home from work (finally)
• Law and Order on the DVR
• Zaxby’s for me and Ernie
• Movie night
• Ernie walking in the door happy
• Max insisting on wearing his heavy winter coat every time he goes outside (so sad that I don’t have a picture of this)
• Little Ernie telling me that he loves me
• Emmaline hugging and kissing her daddy
• Me sitting in my favorite chair and not getting up
• Listening to all 4 kids laugh and play together

How do you know you’re a Southern Belle?

You know you’re a Southern Belle if you have a t-shirt that says you’re a Southern Belle!

Now you might think these shirts are a little loud or tacky. I might have thought so too, at one time. But they’ve grown on me and now I look like all the other moms around town here in Hattiesburg.

Food, anyone?

I’ve been pondering comfort food today. That fiendish stuff. Here are a list of my favorites:

• fresh avocados
• cheesy mashed potatoes
• homemade macaroni and cheese
• Diet Coke
• buffalo wings
• homemade rolls
• strawberries and cream
• cheese. any kind of cheese.
• Thai food

Here are some of my kids favorites, which are turning into comfort foods for them:

• Ramen. Beef flavor, preferably.
• Pasta with butter and cheese
• Sonic cream slushes
• pickles
• toast with cinnamon sugar
• cold cereal

That leaves me to ponder Ernie’s comfort foods. I am not totally sure what his comfort foods might be, since he likes just about everything. If I had to guess, though- these would be my guesses:

• Diet Coke with a lime
• NY Strip steak, medium rare
• burgers from Wendy’s
• good BBQ ribs
• guacamole with lime flavored tortilla chips
• my homemade banana pudding
• fresh, homegrown tomatoes
• chocolate chip cookies

Have you ever?

Have you ever had a day where you literally sat down for 45 minutes and that was it?

That was my day today.

It was a really long day and it wasn’t just long for me. Around noon today Max ended up trying to fall asleep (and sadly failing) curled up in his blanket on the floor of the gym at church. So sad.

Today I’ve cooked for hours, been to Wal-Mart twice, set up tables and chairs, laid out place settings, and contemplated centerpieces. 

Tonight was the Relief Society Birthday dinner and it was lovely. Gold chargers under every plate made the room glow and the fresh flowers looked so pretty. But the best thing about the night was listening to the sisters share their testimonies of Visiting Teaching. We finished up and the sisters went home looking happy. We cleaned up and then looked at each other and said, “Great, let’s do this again tomorrow!”

Because tomorrow we’re in charge of the zone conference luncheon. Luckily the Elders won’t notice if decide not to bring out the gold chargers.

Can you call the Fire Dept back and tell them not to come?

On Saturday night, in honor of a lovely visit with Caroline and Magen (yes- it’s Magen! she never corrected my spelling)- we took the girls to a delicious Thai restaurant. Mostly I think we wanted to cleanse from vast amounts of Sonic and Thai food sounded like a good way to do that. So the babysitter arrived and we walked out the door (in a hurry to be kid free and to get some good food, because the ladies in the group were hungry) when Magen noticed this:

Yep. That’s my neighbors backyard. ON FIRE. So Ernie called 911 and drove down the cul-d-sac to knock on the door and see if anyone was home. We pulled up to the house and Ernie saw someone standing in the backyard. He walked across the lawn and peeked over the fence and our neighbor said, “Hey, man.” As if his yard wasn’t on fire. Ernie asked if everything was okay and the neighbor said, “Yep, just burnin’ some leaves and pine straw. It gets outta control sometimes.”

Ernie was still incredulous and asked him if everything was under control. Neighbor man assured Ernie he had it all under control. According to our neighbor, a couple times a year he rakes all the pine straw and leaves into square sections and then burns them all at once. Ernie said, “Well then, I guess I should call the fire department back and tell them not to come.” The neighbor responded, “You called the fire department??” (as if that were a completely unreasonable thing to do and that running a “controlled burn” in your backyard inside a subdivision was the most normal thing in the world). “Yea,” he said. “You should call them back and tell them not to come.”

So Ernie did that. And we drove away pondering Mississippi and it’s idiosyncrasies.

Holes in his shoes

It was a high council Sunday, so Ernie was at church today in Bogalusa, Louisiana, while the kids and I were at our own ward. His topic was “What the Lord Expects From Us”. I was very interested to talk to him when he got home this afternoon and to hear how he’d decided to approach the topic (since he was still working on his talk late last night). In Bogalusa there is a small branch and they requested that Ernie bring a youth speaker with him. Ernie and the youth speaker were the only speakers on the program and Ernie said that he had to fill 40 minutes. Needless to say, he had some time to say whatever it was he felt like needed to be said. Ernie told me that he shared with the members that he felt that the Lord expects two main things from us: to remain faithful and to serve others. He had some great quotes and good scriptures, but what stood out to me was a story he shared with the Bogalusa Branch from his mission. It’s one I’ve heard before, but it really touched me this afternoon.

Ernie never really wanted to go on a mission and he “kicked against the pricks” for awhile after he turned 19. When he eventually decided that he was going to serve a mission (he was 20), he was concerned about what his dad was going to say. At that time his father was inactive and Ernie felt like his dad also had some hard feelings against the church. So you can imagine his surprise when his father offered to pay for Ernie’s mission. Ernie was called to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ernie’s father decided that instead of buying Ernie new shoes, Ernie would be okay taking Big Ernie’s old dress shoes on his mission. So Ernie took his dad’s shoes on his mission and when he got to Argentina, Ernie quickly found that he could wear through the soles of his dad’s shoes in a matter of months. When the shoes got holes on the bottom, he would make do by folding up a piece of cardstock and putting it in the bottom of each shoe to try and protect his feet.

The people in Argentina were very poor and often Ernie and his companion would go to dinner appointments and the children in the family would sit and watch them eat, because there was only enough food to feed the two Elders. There were families that lived in homes with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing. Money was also very tight for Ernie and his companion because even though they were given money once a month from the mission home, the value of money fluctuated so much each month that in some months the money that they were given might only last two or three weeks.

It was during a month like that, when there was only enough money for food, that Ernie had holes in his shoes again and no money to get them repaired. The people in the ward noticed that he was walking around with holes in his shoes and that his shoes were patched with cardstock. One evening a group of youth came to the door and requested Ernie’s shoes and the next morning his shoes were returned to him with brand new soles. Ernie says that he was overwhelmed at the time, knowing the level of sacrifice it took for these youth to pool their money and repair his shoes for him. 

Ernie shared with the branch that sometimes the Lord needs us to help others by serving spiritually and sometimes He needs us to help them temporally. I’ve heard Ernie share this experience before and when he shares it, it is obvious to me that this amazing act of service still impacts him today. What was a temporal act of service almost 20 years ago, over time has turned into a spiritual act of service as well.

Did you know

Did you know that my kids love snow cones?

And that Emmaline loves to dress herself?

Did you know that Caroline and Max are joined at the hip?

And that big Ernie likes to breath fire?

Did you know that we like to roast marshmallows at our house (a lot)?

And that we love old friends most of all?

Caroline and Megan are leaving in the morning and we are all going to miss them terribly- but it’s been a great visit and we hope that they come back soon!

Dear Ernie

Dear Ernie,

Thanks for a great lunch date today! It’s our 11th anniversary and I think that the kids were as excited today as we were- they kept saying congratulations and that they were happy that we got married. Thank you for being such a great husband and father.

It’s been a wonderful 11 years and some of my fondest memories have been exploring new places with you (which is really good, considering how much we’ve moved). It’s fun to remember all the places we been and the things that we’ve done together. I love thinking about where life is going to take us.

I really want to say thank you for being a good guy- I know you’re not perfect (probably better than anyone) but I really appreciate your consistent willingness to try hard. You have always set the example for saying sorry in our marriage (it was harder for me at first) and it’s been a blessing for both of us. It means a great deal to me that you include me in your life (discussing work issues, your hobbies, spending your free time with me). It makes me feel like we have common goals and that we are “on the same team” as we like to say. I’ve appreciated your dedication to your callings at church and the example that sets for our kids. Most of all I appreciate the incredible level of support that you’ve always given me. I know that you believe in me and that makes all the difference in the world.

You love me. I love you. You’re my best friend. What else is there to say?

Love,

Rebecca

Back to the Beach

We headed back to the beach today. The drive was much more tolerable than the drive yesterday- yes, that’s an audible sigh of a relief you hear. It was seriously 66 degrees and with the wind blowing, it felt colder. Just the same, Emmaline insisted on wearing her new swimsuit despite the fact that it was freezing cold. Even the boys wore long sleeve shirts with their swim trunks. It was a fun afternoon and it was delightful to have Caroline and Megan share it with us!

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

In an extreme act of bravery- Caroline, Megan, and I took the 4 kids to the Museum of Natural Science in Jackson today. The museum is delightful, and it’s Little Ernie’s favorite (this is our 4th visit in the last year). All the kids love it and the museum is housed inside a state park that also has an amazing playground. So the bravery was not in taking the kids to the museum, the bravery was in doing the drive to get there. Hattiesburg, for all it’s virtues, really and truly does not have much entertainment to offer besides the movie theatre and restaurants. The other choices then, while still limited, require us to drive either north to Jackson (1 hr 40 min away) or south to Gulfport (1 hr 30 min away). Also, Mississippi doesn’t really have interstates, so to get anywhere we have to drive on 4 lane highways that have really high speed limits, pass through lots of small towns with unexpected stop lights, and vigilantly watch for people pulling on and off the highway. To drive these roads safely requires vigilance and it’s not a good idea to drive while distracted.

The drive to Jackson today was not the problem- the problem was the drive home. The kids were exhausted, hungry and BORED. We stopped for food on the way out of town, but it never settled them down. While we were driving they kept looking at the GPS and calculating, literally every 2 minutes, how many minutes we had left until we got home. It was way worse than “are we there yet?”, because if the GPS recalculated and added 1 or 2 minutes to the trip length- there was weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. There was also hyper giggling- which is not the good kind of giggling, because it always leads to tears and someone getting hurt. After the giggling phase passed, it was replaced with the crying and moaning phase. Sigh.

Well, at least Megan got some good pictures of the kids.

Loves and loves

Here are all the things that I loved today:

1. Scooting to the middle of the bed this morning while Ernie was in the shower.
2. Saying prayers with Ernie before he left for work.
3. Getting all the bills paid and accounts updated before the kids woke up.
4. Talking to Caroline.
5. Getting to know Megan.
6. Getting money back at Walmart. (I realized yesterday when I looked at my receipt in the car that I was overcharged for 2 items)
7. Taking Little Ernie to see Dr. Dryden (the best children’s therapist in the world).
8. Seeing Little Ernie be so excited and happy, knowing that he has some new skills to help him sleep tonight.
9. Talking with Caroline and Megan :) (when will boys grow up, I ask you)
10. Seeing Emmaline jump for joy when Caroline and Megan invited her to go with them to Sonic.
11. Watching Max run from room to room looking for Caroline and Megan when he woke up from his nap.
12. Renting “Princess and the Frog” on the first day it was released on DVD.
13. Meeting Ernie for dinner at- you guessed it- Rose’s (Caroline’s request this time)
14. Movie night with the kids
15. Bedtime.

Caroline has been with us since the beginning of everything. We were there for both of her proms and her high school graduation. We’ve watched Caroline rock it at BYU-Idaho, work in New York for the last 4 years, and now grad school at Columbia. She was there before we’d been married a year, she almost passed out in the delivery room watching Little Ernie be born, and she has visited us regularly all these years. Here’s some old school Caroline and some old school Smiths:

In the morning we’re headed to the Natural Science Museum in Jackson, so lots more pictures tomorrow!

Dear Mississippi

Dear Mississippi,

Thank you for Hattiesburg- it’s a lovely place to live. And thank you for delicious BBQ that can be purchased at any gas station in town (Rose’s being a personal favorite). Truly delicious, although not so good for the waistline. Thank you for a slower pace of life and mild winters. Thanks so much for having a coastline! It’s delightful to visit the beach whenever we want to. Thank you for Southern Hospitality in the form of neighbors who wave and are genuinely welcoming (evidenced once again by the neighbor today who told me that we were welcome to use their pool whenever we wanted this summer). Thanks for letting me know that it’s okay to monogram everything, showing me that ribbon makes everything better, and that I should always bring a “happy” when I go visiting.

On a more personal note, thanks for letting me breathe a sigh of relief. I realize that Mississippi is not for everyone, but it’s exactly what I needed right now and when I got here I felt like I could exhale for the first time in awhile. Thanks for offering Ernie a job that makes him happy. Thanks for good families and love and support at church.

Thanks for beautiful farmland and allowing my kids to experience a sampling of rural life. Chickens and fresh eggs, honey from rural hives, farm gardens. Running outside and playing in giant dirt piles.

Thank you for providing a culture that supports families and community ties and encourages religion and charitable service.

We probably won’t be here forever, but the Magnolia State will always be a part of us and I intend to soak you in as much as I can while we’re here. Mississippi- I love you.

Sincerely,

Rebecca

Thoughts on Husbands

After a weekend of reflection about His Needs/Her Needs. I remembered a question I heard once.

“What is the number one thing that husband’s want from their wives?”

No, it’s not sex, silly.

The answer was that a husband wants to be admired by his wife.

I think that this is vital. So many times over the years I have heard women degrade their husbands for being inept at cleaning the house, not knowing the kids schedules, or not being able to multi-task. On an even deeper level, they have complained about their dissatisfaction with the lifestyle their husband provides or have contempt for his level of education.

Obviously there are plenty of examples of husbands who are just plain mean to their wives. But even so, I don’t like it when women- in the name of feminism, or a false sense of “standing up for themselves”- tear their husbands down to make themselves feel better. Not cool.

I think that men are more tender than women. Men do not often have a large support group, like most women commonly have. They don’t get a lot of positive feedback from the people that they interact with. Contrast that with a group of women:

I love your shoes!

Your hair is so cute!

I loved your comment in Relief Society, you are such a great mom!

It’s not that I think that men are social retards, it’s just a fact that men don’t get together, talk for hours while they share their feelings, and give each other compliments and support all day long. That task of loving and supporting and complimenting falls squarely on the shoulders of the wife. Sometimes we forget how sensitive men are, simply because they may not announce everything that worries them. Sometimes we forget that cutting words, even when they seem to be shrugged off and forgotten, can cut a man to the quick. I love reminding other women, and being reminded myself, of how special we are as women, how capable we are, and how amazing it is that we are daughters of God. I want that for men too. I want them to know that they are special and important and irreplaceable. I want them to know that it’s amazing that they are sons of God. I want to be better at saying a sincere “thank you” to good men who deserve to be acknowledged.

Tithing Blessing

Back in December I got rear-ended. I had dropped the kids off at school and was in the car- in my pajamas, with Max who was also in his pajamas, when a teenager in a full-size truck didn’t stop in time and slammed into me, pushing me into the car in front of me. It was traumatic and the van was totaled. Our van was a silver 2004 Mazda MPV with 115K miles.

The most upsetting thing to me was that our van had been paid off for 7 months and I had planned on keeping it for at least 3 more years. I knew our van wouldn’t be worth a whole lot and I was highly concerned about the possibility of adding a car payment to our budget. I was right to be concerned. When the insurance company called to tell us the amount the van was worth, it was depressing. A couple of weeks after the accident I was looking at vans in Atlanta (because there were no import vans available in our price range here in Hattiesburg and we don’t drive American) and stumbled across a listing for a used silver 2004 Mazda MPV with 103K miles. It was being sold for less than our low settlement from the insurance company (thank you “Cash for Clunkers” and a saturated used car market). I called Ernie’s parents and asked them if they would go to the dealership and test drive it for me. They did and we bought it. After taxes and registration, the purchase of the vehicle was almost exactly what the insurance company had given us as the settlement.

I have reflected on this a lot. Ernie and I tell the kids that our replacement van is our “tithing blessing”. Ernie and I have always paid our tithing and I believe with all my heart that choosing to do that has protected and blessed our family through the years. Our new van and our old van are the same color, same model, and have almost the exact same number of miles. Most people don’t realize that we have a new van at all. It is a significant blessing to me that the Lord restored our family to the way things were before the accident and with minimal disruption to our lives.

Sleepovers

Ernie is still out of town and Ernie and Nigel are having a sleepover at a friend’s house. It’s their first time spending the night with friends who are not also cousins. It’s 10:30pm and no phone call yet, so I’m going to assume that things are okay over there.

I told Emmaline that she could have a friend spend the night too, and it is an understatement to say that she was ecstatic. Emmaline and her friend Hailey have been adorable tonight. I had a hard time making them go to sleep because they have been giggling, and all Emmaline wants is a sister to giggle with. So it’s late, but they’re still awake and I love that Emmaline is happy. I hope the boys are having as much fun with their friends.

Wait… what? You’re going out of town?

After the madness of the Cub Scout pack meeting yesterday, combined with the warming weather (and the resulting pollen count increase), I had a fantastic migraine. So last night I fed the kids dinner, kissed Ernie good-bye as he left for church, blogged, and then went to bed at 8:00pm. I was fast asleep when Ernie got home from his meetings and when he shook me gently to tell me he was home, I could hardly process it when he then said, “Oh. And I forgot to tell you that I’m going out of town tomorrow and I won’t be home until Saturday.” *sleepy* WHAT???

That’s how I ended up running laundry this morning for Ernie’s trip. It’s also how I ended up picking him up at work and then driving him to the small municipal airport so he could pick up his rental car. Max was so excited to see his Daddy in the middle of the day. When Ernie got out of the car at the airport, Max pouted and when we drove off, Max cried and cried. It reminded me of Little Ernie when he was 2 years old and Ernie was traveling full time- Little Ernie would sob every time he realized we were on the way to airport to drop off Daddy and then he’d throw a royal temper tantrum when Ernie would get out of the car.

I love how attached the kids are to their Daddy- they trust him and they love him and seeing him is the highlight of their day. One of the things that I love most about Ernie, besides his complete devotion to me, is his complete devotion to the kids. It’s wonderful :)

Dirt Cheap Day

Something happened this morning that hasn’t happened since before Christmas. All of the kids got up on time, ate breakfast, got dressed without complaint, and rode the bus to school. Since I didn’t have to drive them, I felt like I’d been given an extra hour in my day- which is pretty much exactly what happened!

Max and I ran out about 9am to pick up three things from Dollar General and 4 hours later we made it back to the house. While I was at Dollar General, picking up bleach to bleach a water stain out of the kitchen ceiling, I noticed this lovely blue pitcher:

So, I put it in the cart and picked up another one in celadon green. I love little finds like that! But that little find got me thinking that it might be a good day to head over to Dirt Cheap and look for some new cloth shower curtains to use as tablecloths. What’s Dirt Cheap, you ask? Well, it’s this fabulous store here in Mississippi that sells all sorts of things that have been salvaged out by Walmart, Target, Land’s End (I got a pair of Land’s End tennis shoes for $3 last fall), and other stores. I saw a lot of Lillian Vernon stuff there today. Anyways, you usually feel the need to use a lot of hand sanitizer when you’re done, but the digging is often super worth it. I picked up two summery “tablecloths” today. They were Target shower curtains that I’d actually looked at in the store a few months ago and didn’t buy. I got them at Dirt Cheap today for $4 each.

This afternoon, after the Cub Scout pack meeting at the house, Emmaline ended up running around in her crinoline. She loves this thing! It goes under all of her homemade Sunday dresses.

And Max just ended up in his diaper. In this picture I told him to open his eyes, so instead he opened his mouth and said, “AHHH.” Can you tell he’s witnessed a lot of strep tests?

And Nigel ended up crying because he couldn’t beat his level on the Xbox.

And Ernie eventually made it to everyone’s favorite chaise, with his favorite blanket, his favorite cat, and his favorite brother named Max.