07.28.2003 | 9:50 pm

I AM POOPED! Today has been �catch-up� day here in the cozy confines of the household M�s. We pretty much washed everything in the house. Marie has a hard time keeping up with the laundry. (Understatement!) She really likes to get down on the floor and just play with the kids. I think that is one reason they are so sweet and good-natured. They simply feel loved and cared for all the time. A little after the lunch hour, Matt called to tell Marie he had a flat tire. He needed to drive into Allentown to pick up a tee shirt order didn�t want to drive on the freeway on a do-nut tire. He was REALLY upset. Work had been going badly for him all morning and he was frustrated. So�. I took over the laundry, and became the �clothes folding fairy� once again. I had hubby down in the basement sorting and moving the loads of laundry along from washer to dryer while I took care of the baby and FOLDED�FOLDED�FOLDED! By the time Marie returned, there were giant piles for her to put away. She was very happy. She commented that so much laundry had not been done so fast since the last time I had come.

While everyone was down for naps, we went to the grocery and got the food put away before it was time to trot off to swimming lessons. I decided to stay home and cook, since the baby was still sleeping. I made the most delicious tomato/basil salad. Marie has fresh basil, dill, coriander, and parsley growing in her garden. The salad, along with a sun dried tomato sauce with chicken and pasta was dinner. I thought the gang would not be home till about 7:00, but they all came shuffling up the stairs at 6:00. It seems that someone �pooped� in the pool, and the whole pool had been shut down to clean things up. The little girls couldn�t stop talking about the whole incident, with wrinkled noses to add emphasis!

Tonight was Family Home Evening. For those of you not LDS, this is a special time each Monday night, set aside for a nice dinner, a spiritual lesson, and family business. For the M�s, the songs and prayers are always the same. Meredith chooses the opening song and Melanie says the prayer. Then they reverse things for the closing� Melanie gets the song and Meredith gets the prayer. Tonight Grandpa told the story of "The Seagulls and the Crickets." This is a famous story about the first pioneers who settled in the Salt Lake Valley. They arrived in the late summer of 1849�too late to plant substantial crops. The first winter was bleak and hungry. In the spring, the pioneers tilled the earth and planted their crops from seeds they had tenderly cared for during their journey across the Great Plains and through the winter. As the seeds began to sprout and grow, there came a tremendous cricket infestation. Millions of crickets covered the new fields, devouring plants and hope for the pioneers. They tried every means available to them to kill the insects. Finally they turned to the Lord in prayer. The next day, flocks of seagulls descended upon the fields. At first, the pioneers thought this was yet another plague, but the seagulls began eating the crickets. The birds gorged themselves, then flew to the Great Salt Lake and purged. Returning again and again, they fed until there were no more insects left. The pioneers� crops were spared, and the following winter, the people had food stores for their needs. Of course, when Grandpa was finished telling this story, the little girls could only say, �Wow!�

Yesterday, Buster, the �grand-dog� was really bad. He killed the baby rabbit that lived under the backyard shed. He got a good scolding and was sent to his corner. The poor little rabbit was lying out in the yard as still as a statue. The men were off to a meeting and I just couldn�t stand having it lay there. I found some newspaper and went out back. I picked to poor little thing up, wrapped it gently and took care of it. I was sad. I sometimes don�t care for the �circle of life.�

catsnapples~ at life

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