Yesterday I told the kids we were going to have what they like to call "a crazy day." That's a day where they stay in their pj's all day long. We've only had a few of them and they're pretty tough to pull off. Sam is usually dressed in full cowboy garb (occasionally with layers of cop stuff or Spiderman costomes over the top) before any body else is even out of bed. We were going to be leaving at about 2:00 to go into town and do some shopping before we met the VanDeventers at that great mexican restaurant in Old Town at 4:30. We'd have a nice dinner with them, then go to prayer meeting at 6:00. That was the plan anyway, so I figured we'd just stay in our pj's until after lunch, then get into our church clothes sometime before 2:00. Sam lasted until all of about 8:30 before he ran into the closet and came out looking like this...

So Sam was suited all day long! Ha!

Joe woke up not feeling good. You can always tell if Joe's faking or not by how he responds to meal time. He didn't eat a bite for breakfast or lunch. It was for real! He was a little feverish, but mostly just extremely lethargic. He laid around all through devotions and breakfast time, sat down and did his school, then laid around throughout the rest of the day. Katie did much better in school (thank the Lord!) and we were done before noon.

As we were walking out the door at 2:00 we got a call from Brother VanDeventer. They were running late and wouldn't be able to meet us for dinner--we'd just meet up with them at church. Bummer! We went ahead and loaded everybody up and headed to town, as scheduled. By the time we got there all of the kids were sacked out in the van. I'm not sure any of them have been feeling just real good the past few days, but Joe was the only one who was obviously ailing. Anyway, I ran in to Bed, Bath & Beyond while James waited in the van with the slumbering children. I cruised the whole store just sort of browsing and looking for ideas. Didn't find a whole lot. But I did find just what I was looking for. A two-tiered-lazy-susan-tray-thingie for my spices and a lid rack. Mom said they're kind of hard to find, so I went ahead and just bought them.

We then went to Wal-Mart and James stayed in the van so the kids could sleep some more while I ran in. Found that they had a lid rack for $3 less than what I had just paid (ooooh! I hate that!), but they didn't have the spice thingie. I picked up all of the stuff that was on the list, but I can't remember much of what it was!

We went to eat at Cracker Barrel since it was close to the church. Joe was feeling some better and ate a bowl of soup. And some applesauce. And Katie's applesauce. And a biscuit with jelly and... Ha! He'd been missing out on food all day, you know?! He still wasn't feeling the greatest, but good enough to eat finally.

We had a really good prayer meeting and it was a pleasure to have the VanDeventers with us. They are always such a joy to be around! We just love them soooooo much. Who doesn't?! After service we went out to Denny's so the Vans could eat the dinner they had skipped in order to make it to church. We had a nice lo-o-o-o-o-o-ong visit there due to some very poor service! Ha! Afterwards the V's said they wanted to drive out and see our house. Wa-Hoo! How fun is that?! So they followed us up into the mountains so they could see where we live. The only bummer is that it was dark and they couldn't really see WHERE we live or the great view or anything. Oh well. They seemed to think the house was great, but wondered how on earth we ever found this place! Ha! It isn't exactly on the way anywhere, I guess! Anyway, they brought us a housewarming gift (Ah! I forgot to take a picture of it--I was going to post it!), an engraved stone with a phrase about faith etched into it. And, of course, they brought something for each of the kids. Just what they need--more toys! Ha! The VanDeventers are soooooo thoughful and I was truly touched that they cared enough to drive the 30 minutes out here just to see our little house--and give us a gift for it! ~sigh~ I wanna be just like them when I grow up. :-)

After they left I figured it was time to get to work on Grace's wedding gift. Can't say too much just yet, of course, but I will show it to you...

The box was so big I had to cut two great big long pieces of wrapping paper and tape them together to be able to wrap around the whole thing! I fought with that dumb thing and the ribbons (they never would really un-woober) for probably 30 or 40 minutes! Ha! But in the end, I love it. Simply because it's just so big and bright and happy and... Well, just great! I mean, with a gift that looks so happy it doesn't even matter what's inside of it, right?! (Just keep that in mind, Grace! Ha!) I'm so glad she picked red and yellow for her colors. Makes for such a cheery gift. Lots better than all the white and silvery paper it will be surrounded by at the wedding. :-) And I even managed to rummage around in the garage long enough to find the box that had those great Coca-Cola cards that Emilee had made for me several months ago. Nothing like a Coke wedding card, right?! I hear there are lots of nonconventional things about this wedding, so I thought I'd follow suit. :-)

Today Joe was feeling lots better, but still not fully back to himself yet. Katie is the one who's been lethargic all day long. I put the kids down for quiet time this afternoon and immediately after I told them they could get up she was right back in bed, fast asleep! Slept for at least 2 or 3 hours.

Today I re-sorted my pantries and cabinets. Now that I have that lazy susan thingie all of my spices and baking stuff finally found a place. I moved and rearranged some things, trying to make room for some more stuff to be unpacked into the cabinet on the far right. It's so hard to not have an office or any place to keep the things that used to be in it! So if I can use that one big cabinet for some office stuff it will help a whole lot.

James was gone throughout most of the day. Last week Joe had been playing with the seatbelt in the van and pulled the thing a-a-a-a-all the way to the end. It got stuck and broke the mechanism, so James took it down and had it replaced today. He explained to Joe just how much it cost and just how sorry Joe would be if it ever happened again. ;-) It won't. Joe has no problem with true repentance!

After the dealership finished up on the seatbelt James ran over to Sears and picked up my new stove! The upgraded one that they are letting us have in exchange for the damaged one we had before. :-) So he brought that home and we unloaded it and got it put into place. ~si-i-i-i-igh~ It's beautiful. It's been over two months since I've had a stove and I'm soooooo happy! James had to run back into Albuquerque to pick up his suits from the cleaners, so he brought home a Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner. It was great, but I felt rather disloyal. I mean, I had had every intention of christening this new oven with a Totino's pizza! Ha! That's okay. The Papa Murphy's was good and the cinnamon ring was fantastic. After we get back from the wedding we'll go buy some meat and such so that I can actually COOK now that I have a new stove! :-)

And now comes the part where I explain the title of this post. ~sigh~ I have to iron. There's just no way around it. I haven't ironed a stitch since we left the motel (how long has that been?! Two weeks? Two and a half?) and we're running low on clothes. It hasn't mattered because we've been wearing nothing but work clothes. But now we're going to Arizona and will be seeing real people and have to look decent. ~sigh~ So it's got to be done. I have all of the laundry done and piled high the entire length of the couch. There are three piles: the Got-to-Have-it-for-the-Trip pile, the Might-Could-Use-it-on-the-Trip pile, and the Don't-Need-it-This-Weekend-and-Ain't-Gonna-Touch-it-'til-We-get-Home pile. They're all sitting there staring at me. So what was I to do?! Why, sit down and blog, of course!!! But they're not going away and we can't go to Arizona until I do something about it. So now's the time...

But here's a parting shot for you...