in a nutshell

i wake up early and head out for my daily run.
i get ruby up and ready, and after our morning prayer as a family, asher and i stand at the front door and bid farewell to ruby and dad.

we finish getting ourselves ready for the day, and then head out the door. our destination(s)? target. michaels. walmart. i spend most the time wandering aimlessly up and down the isles, in and out of the fixtures,and then forget to buy the very things i went for in the first place. why? because i'm talking to my sister on the phone, and because i am the worst multitasker in the world. while we're in walmart, my raveging, chocolate loving, two-year-old, attacks the almond bark - packaging and all. this is a fun one to try and explain to the cashier.



it's finally time to pick up ruby from school. she comes out to the car wearing an adorable bunny mask - which she refuses to remove, and within minutes, is sound asleep.



we drive out to phoenix to my favorite baking and cake decorating store. i am not a baker, nor do i decorate cakes, but i could spend hours inside of ABC cake decorating. ruby is still asleep when we get there, so i decide to forgo spending hours inside. instead i park in the front and center spot {the one that can be see from anywhere in the store}, leave the car running, and make a mad dash for the one item i really need - being gone a total of one minute.

we then head to the airport to pick up grandma judy. her flight has been delayed, so we sit in the cell phone lot for close to an hour. thank goodness for solitaire - that hour felt like a mere minute.

we head straight to in-n-out with grandma. it's tradition. something that is not tradition {and i hope never happens again}...asher sprays his vanilla shake through a straw pointed directly at grandma judy. grandma laughs. a nice hearty, amusing laugh. although i know she is not amused.

we drop her off at lori's - where she'll be staying, and i put asher straight to bed.
naughty boy.

i spend the rest of the afternoon putting all that chocolate coating to use {making pastel-colored cupcake bites for easter}, while the children sit quietly on the couch {only in my dreams} watching toy story 2.

john walks in the door from work. i don't have dinner ready. surprise. surprise. it's 6:20 and i don't even have an idea in my head. i whip up a few turkey sandwiches along with some apple slices, and a cupcake bite for dessert. ruby's confused because isn't this lunch food mom? and after devouring his cupcake, asher begs for more muffins mom.

we spend the next couple of hours wrestling, and playing, tickling, and laughing... and then wind down with a few verses from the book of mormon - another tradition. ruby's heart melts when she finds a picture of mary holding the Christ child, and my heart melts as i witness the way she raptly studies the painting.



after the kids are settled, i head next door and visit with one of my dearest and sweetest friends.

as i now sit and contemplate the day, i realize that it was nothing amazing. not anything out of the ordinary per se. i'm tired, my feet hurt, and my back hurts. but i'm grateful. i'm grateful to my children for making life interesting and fun. i'm grateful to john for his devotion to his family, for providing for us. because of him, i feel safe. i'm grateful that ruby has a good teacher that she loves, and from whom she has learned so much. i'm grateful for my mother-in-law. we love to laugh together, and i love her like i love my own mother. i'm grateful for sisters. i'm blessed with 4 of the very best. i'm grateful for good, kind, and caring friends...and that i'm able to run {even though it's not always my favorite thing to do}...and that we have good food to eat {even if we sometimes eat lunch or breakfast for dinner}.
so there you have it, my day and my beatitudes...
in a nutshell.