"Count in your head. I'm trying to relax."

Today is going to be dedicated to my lovely girl and some of the wonderful things that come out of that creative little brain of hers. The above statements were directed to her older brother a while back. I'm not exactly sure what the situation was, but I did hear him counting so I know where that part came from. No matter the why or where, it's just funny to me that a 5 year old needed some peace and gave her older brother a clear alternative to the situation at hand.

Here's some good stuff that happened earlier today:
We've got some friends in town who are visiting for a few days and today we were all in the van running errands. These friends have been traveling the country for the past year and have had many amazing experiences, but I'm sure today will rank up there as one of the ones that they'd rather not repeat. Before I go on with this particular story, I'd like to suggest you take a moment and visit their blog, 12legstravel.com.
PAUSE
Wasn't it great? Okay, back to the story: We had been in the house most of this rainy day and we finally got hungry enough to leave for a late lunch. Then we ran some errands and were showing our friends the city when the inactivity of the day began to wear away at the sweet demeanor of my children. They had all been placed in the back seat of the van to accommodate our passengers so by the time we were headed back home (anyway), their noise level and composure had both elevated and disintegrated, respectively. Our dear friends graciously smiled and kept conversing, and only occasionally would joke that perhaps having children wasn't in their future. After a few more miles of pure joy someone said something about knowing how to get them quiet...something about sneaking into their room tonight and scaring them...something about waiting until they least expected it...when my daughter proudly blurted out, "It won't scare me 'cause I'm not afraid of humans!!" We all just laughed and for a brief moment (very brief) there was peace and laughter and smiles and happiness.