Not Too Bad

For a day that started out . . . poorly (let's just leave it at that), it actually went pretty well. By 10:00 am I was getting my equilibrium back, so we had devotional and then we got ready to go to the library. Last night I did a lot of book hunting online (like usual, mostly a waste of time as the library system is impossible), so Timothy went to the library with us so I could get the next month's worth of school books.

We walked over. It was such a beautiful day! The weather is glorious. So I was feeling even better by the time we got to the library. Then, Timothy took the kids and I was able to browse the shelves--see what there was to see without worrying about how many books Emeline had pulled off the shelves in the last thirty seconds. Delightful. I even found a hitherto undiscovered cowboy section with books about the Pony Express, Daniel Boone, Kit Carson, and a DK eyewitness cowboy book. When I showed them all to Cowen he thought he was in heaven.

We maxed out all three library cards and then started home. The trip home wasn't quite so delightful. As we were walking past Sister Panter's house, Miriam noticed that Sister Panter (the Primary president--so Miriam knows her well) was out on the steps talking to the missionaries. Of course, she had an urgent need to use the bathroom as soon as she saw all the excitement (ie people) on the front step. Sister Panter let her in the house, and then Timothy, Cowen, Emeline and I stood around on the sidewalk for awhile. Finally, I decided it was time to retrieve Miriam and I made it to the front steps before Sister Panter said she would go find her. Then Emeline decided she would follow me, tripped on the steps, and skinned two of her fingers. One started bleeding profusely, so when Sister Panter returned with Miriam, who had been playing in Maleah's room, I has to ask for a bandaid. Could we be any more interruptive and dramatic??

Emeline cried the whole rest of the way home (about 90% of the walk), and wouldn't be consoled by anything, so after putting a bandaid on her other finger (I don't like cleaning up blood), we stuck her in bed.

The rest of us ate lunch and then I took Miriam grocery shopping while Timothy put Cowen to bed. Before we left, I got Miriam's school journal and wrote down "Data Gathering" and then three items of data to gather: hair color, apple color, and type of vehicle. She started chapter five in her math book today--it is all about data gathering and graphing. When I explained to Miriam how to gather her data she was DELIGHTED. She said, "I thought all the fun would be done today after we got home from the library!" I'm so glad I was able to extend the fun for her.

It was really pretty adorable watching her wander around with pencil and notebook in hand. She was just so earnest about the whole thing. At one point she walked up to a lady who had her baby in the cart with a hat on. I missed the first part of the exchange but I heard Miriam say, "I just need to see his hair." The lady was nice and took off the hat for Miriam to give brown hair another mark. So--my grocery shopping got done at the same time Miriam did her math work for the day. She is an excellent data gatherer. Don't be surprised if you receive a phone call in the next week or so from Miriam intent on collecting more data.

When we got home, I pulled out the fancy watercolor colored pencils and Miriam chose a scenic picture of Utah to draw. While she did that, I put my bulk hamburger into smaller bags. At one point Miriam said, "Do you want to color with me?" I said, "Not today." And Miriam said, "We need a maid. Then you could play with me all day and we'd have so much fun!" Yes, that would be delightful. I thought it was a sweet sentiment.

After supper (bread straight from the oven and chili), we watched 45 minutes of a Jungle Book movie as a family. I don't think we've watched a family movie in years--so it was kind of nice even with Emeline changing her mind every two minutes about whose lap she wanted to sit on.

The kids are now in their beds and Timothy is at a missionary discussion at the missionary's invite, and I am off to do dishes. All in all--not a bad day.