Cleaning days and cool new stuff

On Monday, I awoke with only the barest elevated temperature -- compared to the fever, I felt great! We were out of food and I had to run a few other errands on post as well, so we headed out to get stuff done.

Yesterday I took a good look around my house, and it seems that in my haze of sickness, the house had imploded upon itself into disaster. Not only were toys strewn to the four corners, but it was spectacularly dirty. I started at one end of the house, and with the children's help, we gathered, scrubbed, and vacuumed our way through.

We broke for lunch; I hadn't been in the very lightest of moods (cleaning is serious!!), so I suggested a walk for cheese (sliced to order -- no extra work at home!), pretzels, and some good rolls. The children were cheered by this thought, so we set out.

The weather was a little chilly, but the sun was brilliant, so it was nice to walk. We stopped also to pick up a particularly nice looking cucumber, which Lavella took as her own. We got more than one amused expression as she marched down the sidewalk, belly first in a pink-and-gray hoodie, brandishing a long cucumber, arms punching with each step.

Back at home, we opened a box we'd picked up earlier from the post office, sent by Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Bob.


Of course, first off, Jonah's first Ralph Lauren set:


Then a dress for Lavella (they'd read about her new love for them):


And Cars Movie toys for the boys:


Thank you Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Bob! We think all of our new things are great and have been playing with them non stop since we opened them!! (And thank you so much for the check too.) We love you so much!