Random Kindness

We went to Wal-mart today. I will give you a moment to compose yourself after that statement. It was there, they had great prices on the school supplies for Thomas, and I was already out with 3 kids, so why not. If you have now recovered from your shock of me shopping at Wal-mart instead of Target, we will now continue our story.

After getting most of Thomas's school supplies for first grade, we finally made it to the check out line. Of course, there were not enough open, so there were long lines at all of them. And, of course, the person working at the check out was slow. I was very nice and patient and the kids were very good. Not once did they ask for treats, and I only had to take one thing out of Jerry's little sticky fingers. There were two older ladies in front of us, at least seventy years old. They finished and were getting situated to head out the door as I was starting to get my stuff checked out. One of the ladies turned and asked Thomas if he had a piggy bank. He said he did. She then took one dollar from her change after her purchase and handed it to him and told him to put it in his piggy bank. Then, she asked Jerry and gave him one dollar. She did the same for Michael. The boys were all so good and polite and thanked her without prompting. Well, Michael needed some encouraging to sign thank you. I also thanked her profusely and told her that was so sweet and the boys will be so excited to put it in their banks or get a special treat.

It was all such a simple thing, but so sweet and kind and thoughtful. It made the boys' day and renewed to those who witnessed what took place that there are so many good people out in the world who do countless random kindnesses. You never know when your seemingly little effort can brighten a person's day or restore lost hope. Thank you, sweet ladies in the Wal-mart check out line. You reminded me to go and find something nice to do for a stranger and someone close to me.

Cows!

Introducing, Our Herd


Yesterday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. What does this mean, you ask. FREE FOOD!!! All you had to do was dress like a cow and you got a free meal. Just a little bit cow still got you an entree, so you can't lose. Thursday we made our costumes and the kids had a blast making cow faces on paper plates. We used the plates for breakfast and lunch, but at lunch we got these cool cow hats, so we used them at dinner. You read right, we ate out for all 3 meals yesterday, and only paid $0.32 for the entire thing. I know, it was a free meal, but someone, Jerry, decided he wanted fruit instead of fries at lunch, so we had to pay the upcharge. We had lots of fun and entertained ourselves for many hours. Now we have spots ready for next year.
Isn't he the cutest cow you have ever seen?
The other two adorable hooligans, enjoying their third feast of the day.

Testing

Thomas went to the doctor for his annual physical. He is healthy and growing, as we already knew. Earlier this year he had an unusual reaction to something, possibly a cashew, that sent us to the ER, and now we carry and EpiPen. I was asking the doctor about getting a new one when this one expires and after a short discussion decided to draw blood and do allergy testing to get a better idea of what might have caused the reaction so that we can avoid it in the future. Tonight at dinner Thomas was saying the prayer and said "We're grateful that I could go to the doctor and they could take my blood so they can tell me if I like nuts and what food I like." I'm thinking we might not share the test results with him if this is his line of thinking.

COLOR

We just got home from a wonderful week at the beach with lots of family and fun, posting to come, of course. Usually Tyler only makes it for a couple days, so he entertains himself while we are gone. With no kids around it is the perfect time for various projects that collect over time. Several years ago he painted some dressers that I got a great deal on, but they were not too pretty to look at. It is one thing for me to sand them with hooligans running around, but quite another to try and paint them. Last year he just worked lots of crazy hours. Sometimes the project is a surprise, others the projects are things I ask him to do. This year the project was a surprise. He took Jerry out to run errands while I was teaching. Yes, my husband is so great he takes kids away for me to teach music lessons. He worked all week and ended up taking more time than anticipated on his surprise project. When we got home today he walked in first with loads of stuff and I was close behind. What a surprise greeted me. MY WALLS ARE PAINTED A COLOR OTHER THAN WHITE!!!! Tyler painted downstairs a beautiful color. The music room is still white, but I like the visual separation of the dining room one color and the music room another. Each time I walk out and see the colors, I can't help but smile. Now aren't you jealous that my husband is so good to me? Not only did he paint the walls, but he used satin finish paint, so it will clean easy and without taking the paint off like the nasty flat stuff that builders use. My house is so fabulous and beautiful and I am beside myself excited about it. Stop in and take a look.

Funny note, the color is called "Holmes Cream." Maybe it is a cream that helps generate perma-grin. And no, he didn't pick the color for the name, he just sort of groaned when he realized the name of the color he picked. We have a habit of doing things like that without meaning to.