I had a rough day today. By rough, I mean ROUGH! Let me tell you how it went:

Taryn, my perfect little lady, woke up at 8 am. This, after I went to bed early last night, then found out that Trey was in the process of doing my paper route w/o even being asked (when I woke up to do it myself and found him not in the bed beside me)! I must have gotten at least 9 hours of sleep or more last night! Geesh! When Taryn got up, we played and had a good time together for a bit. Then TJ got up around 8:30-8:45 or so, and we hugged and snuggled for a while, too.

We hung out for a while, while I got some laundry (much needed) done and we watched some telly. I even watched Grey's Anatomy from last night. I'm not a fan of where they're taking the plot, but I will keep hope alive for now. TJ was mostly cooperative. Around noon, I woke Trey up (I let him sleep in b/c he hadn't slept since noon Sunday when he went to bed at 7 am this morning). I dozed as he took a shower and got ready to go, and then we were off.

First, we went to Toys R Us. This was where the day got really, really rough. Here's the deal: I had a voucher from Fisher Price that expires soon, and I had to spend it. It was for $150, and had to be spent in its entirety at one time. So, we were forced to spend $150 on toys. I know, rough stuff. It was, though. It actually was pretty stressful. I decided it was only fair to split it right down the middle, and I was sticking to buying only for my kids (and not getting gifts and the like, b/c I worked to earn it for them). The hardest part was that it had to be a Mattel item, which limited it to Fisher Price, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Tyco toys. Trey and TJ had a fine time in the car section, and the hardest part was just figuring out which set to buy that they could make a mess with! Taryn was not so easy. I really wanted to get learning toys, but honestly, I don't care much for the choices Fisher Price has for Taryn's age. I thought perhaps I could get her (and TJ) some toys for later, and just put them away, but honestly, I know me better! So we were there for a LONG time trying to find stuff I could tolerate. Oh, and get this, Fisher Price was having a special where you got a free $10 toy if you bought over $25 worth of stuff! So we actually got $160 worth of toys! Yippee!

So here's the breakdown of what we got, if you'd like to know:
for TJ-
Matchbox town set-up complete with cars, ramps and city buildings with buttons (buttons are very important!)
Extra ramps
Doctor kit (free)
Travel DoodlePro
Travel car city (for going to restaurants, it folds up really small)
Bubble mower
A Dora cartridge for his Learn Through Music

for Taryn-
Activity magnets
Peek-a-Blocks Crocodile
Peek-a-Blocks
A purse with lots of fun stuff (keys, brush, phone, giant lipstick!)
Sesame Street Pop-up-Pals

Yeah, I think in the end TJ got about $20 of Taryn's buckaroos, but I think she'd have happily given them up just to finally get out of the store! We were there FOREVER!

After the long day shopping, we were all very fatigued and famished, and all those f-words that mean STARVING. Of course, nothing else would help us to maintain our large bellies better than greasy hamburgers and fries, so McDonald's it was. TJ and Taryn crawled through the dirty outside tubes, whilst Trey and I had a value-menued, romantic lunch together. Awww....

My goal, however, for leaving the house today had still not been met. I wanted to get TJ and Taryn a sprinkler (we saw one on a walk yesterday, and TJ wanted to run in it). Unfortunately, if Fisher Price or Mattel make one, we could not find it at Toys R Us, so we hit up Wal-Mart. We got a really cool one that sprays everywhere, and it was super cheap! We picked up a few other necessities while there, then were on our way again.

We quickly ran by Lowes to get some links for TJ's swing I've been wanting forever, and were on our way home. Once there, Trey went right to work putting out the sprinkler and fixing the swing. By then it was a bit chilly, as the evening was on its way, but hey, you gotta test out the sprinkler no matter what, right! TJ and Trey got soaked, I, ummm, had to hold Taryn, yeah. Blue is a puss who had to be held to go through. I got out TJ's new bubble mower while Trey finished up the swing, and we all took a swing on it (we got the super-strength one so we could swing on it, too--I'm so excited!). Taryn managed to put as much dirt on her body as she could, and what she didn't get stuck on, she just shoved into her mouth.

Now, don't you agree that was a really rough day? I mean, we spent the whole day together as a family. No fighting, no arguing, all happy (well, except for a few of TJ's tantrums...), probably nookie later. I declare. Anymore of this and my head might explode!

Sadly, tomorrow it's back to the grindstone. I will always hold this day in my heart and memory as a day of love and fun, and will think fondly of my family members throughout my days. Well, I will at least until I get all pissed off and would rather cuss everyone out instead!

Oh, and Taryn waves "Hi" and "Bye" now. She thinks it's a hoot!

I hope you have a great day, and I'll see you soon!

***Yes, every toy but one has been opened now. You knew we wouldn't wait a night, right!