Please come, summer

At the risk of sounding like a downer, this past weekend was about as fun as having my tooth pulled. 

We still need parkas and umbrellas here.  The kids and their parents (one in particular--the other is happy to get out of lawn care) are going stir crazy.  The boys delighted in annoying each other, Miss Caroline belly scooted to chew on electrical cords and shoe soles and me, well, I'm just ready for sun and 80.  Degrees, that is.  Not age.  Although I feel 80 with my loss of hearing in the left ear but that's another story.

On Saturday, I was up for another Mother of the Year nomination and was about ready to lose my gourd.  Much whining and moaning abounded.  And that was just the kids.  They wanted to go outside but the yard was still a swamp and the dirt pile was a mud puddle and I wasn't up for the clean up.  Spencer refused to nap, a dilema we seem to be encountering more frequently, which only added to the chaos.

About 1:00 I started calling for back up in the form of a small neighbor child to give my kids another outlet.  Thankfully a little neighbor child agreed to engage the likes of Spencer and Matthew.  Matthew told me the other week that this particular girl wanted to marry him.  He knew because she sat by him in music class and in Primary.  When I suggested that perhaps she just wanted to be friends he refuted and stated he knew otherwise.  When I asked him how he felt about that, he said it would be fine because they were born at the same time (about three weeks apart) and we all know it is important to marry someone your own age.  Just ask Hollywood. 

Yesterday was a little better.  The kids have coughs and I didn't think that Nursery would want the likes of our germs so we stayed home.  I decided that while I was at it I might as well stay in my nightgown until 6:00 pm so that's exactly what I did.  I did play trains with the boys and managed to make a decent dinner so I got some points there.

About 7:00 we needed some fresh air so I hoisted Caroline into the hip hammock which she enjoyed about as much as flying to the moon.  Despite her protests, we forged on, that is until we made it to the driveway with two bikes and it began to rain.  So much for a little exercise.  So we grabbed the van keys and took a drive up around the Draper temple.  The redeeming part of the day, which gave us all new hope, was a beautiful full rainbow arching over the mountains.  There are few things more beautiful than a rainbow and thus, we were renewed and today looks better.

On the drive home, I had "the mini van conversation" again with Matthew.  It goes something like this:

Matthew:  Is this a mini van?
Me: Yes.
Matthew: Why don't we have a full size van?
Me: Because a mini van works better for us and we don't need a full size van.
Matthew: How many people does a full size van seat?
Me: About 12.
Matthew:  I really wish we had a full size van.
Me: I know but we'll just stick with the mini van.
Matthew: How big is a full size van?
Me:  Bigger than our van; it has more seats behind.
Matthew: Is it twice as big?
Me:  Probably.  Well, not quite twice as big, but it has more seats behind and the extended van is even longer.
Matthew:  How many people does the extended van seat?
Me: About 15.
Matthew:  I wish we had a full size van.  How many people does it seat?
Me: 12
Matthew: I wish we had one.
Me: I know.
(Repeat conversation about 3 times per trip)

And so goes our time in the mini van.  Not the full size van.