a pleasantly pleasant day

.....for lack of anything better to call it. Today was just that, pleasant, and I loved every minute of it. Of course, I'm stressing big time because some long-time friends are coming to town tomorrow to visit for the weekend, and they've never seen this house before, so we're in MAJOR cleaning/sprucing up mode, but still......today just went smoothly, calmly, nicely, pleasantly.

Little E went to school today, for the first time in a while, because he missed his friends, plus today was WATER DAY, and how can any self-respecting 4 year old not enjoy water day? ;) After K dropped E at school, the rest of us went palm-tree shopping. We've wanted one for a while, but not the true palm tree with the big trunk that grows really tall.....more like one of the bushy kind that grows more outward than up. It was hilarious, like shopping for a Christmas tree: "do you like this one better, or this one? This one's bushier, but this one's taller. This one's nice, what do you think?"

But we settled on one, and brought it home. A helped us dig the hole to plant it, then helped pour Miracle Gro soil around it and water it in. It looks awesome, really makes the front of the house "pop" as they say. :)

Next, I went to my school for a decidedly pleasant and stress-relieving talk with my principal. He was so nice, thanked me for taking on these Chorus classes, and answered my many questions in a very satisfactory way, IMHO. I'm not ready to start back yet, of course, but I feel a lot better about doing so after today.

Went to the outlet mall and racked up on some great stuff at Oshkosh. 2 polos for A, and a pair of shorts, a pair of "shortalls" for E and 3 pairs of socks......total bill, $35! Never mind that they didn't have what I went there to get, LOL, I still had fun because I love "beating the system" and getting such great deals! :)

Picked up E at school, and was greeted with nothing but positives......all the teachers and kids were so glad to see him, he had a fabulous day, water day was a smash, AND get this: the teachers were giving the kids cute little star-shaped sunglasses to take home (not sure why, but I digress). E asked for a blue pair, which he got, then asked for a green one for A (A's fav color) and they gave him one. That's my sweetie, thinking of his big bro.

Home tonight was Leave it to Beaver material.........yummy semi-gourmet dinner of calzones (from scratch!) and broccoli, all cooked by K. After dinner, outside to play with the kids in the cul-de-sac, and ended up meeting/playing with some of our neighbors. 3 kids in particular, one of which we didn't already know. K and E were riding bikes with 2 "big boys" (found out they're both 11), and God bless those boys, they were SO nice to E. Didn't just tolerate his little 4-year-old obsession with the SuperFriends, they played along and pretended they were Batman and Superman to his Robin. A and I played with just-turned-8-year-old D, and she's such a breath of fresh air. Very nice, tolerant of A's peculiarities, seems to really want to play with him. They kicked the soccer ball around the cul de sac, then got out his bike and her Razor scooter.

She really wanted him to ride the bike, but then I explained he hasn't learned how yet (without training wheels)......then she was MORE excited and wanted to help him learn. He resisted every way he knew how, but finally gave in and tried it. She was a great helper, very encouraging. He still doesn't quite have it, I can't let go of the bike for more than a second, but we're trying.

Inside for pajamas and homemade milkshakes, a bit more cleaning up, and then reading books for bedtime.......me with A, K with E. Now, my ears are filled with the beautiful sounds of my sleeping boys, all 3 of them, through the baby monitor we still use. Right before getting into bed, E topped off the day by telling us "when I was at school and taking a nap, I really missed you guys!" My heart is full, and today was wonderful. I am truly very blessed!