Last weekend, I found myself in the kitchen at the Wales house washing "K's" clothes.

That sweet thing had been practicing her potty skills for two weeks and then found herself in the yard at Wales having more fun than she knew how to handle. She'd done well so far, but who has time for a potty trip with there's so much to see...(I still feel that way...I'm just lucky to have a little more bladder control.)

I was in a pretty sour mood (broken car windows will do that to you) and I was running out of nice things to say to anyone about anything, so when Kristen came out of the tent announcing that her youngest duckling was on the last set of clean pants for the weekend with a whole day left, I jumped at the chance to have some alone time with little "K's" clothes and the kitchen sink where I couldn't hurt anyone's feelings or be sent to bed without my dinner because of my attitude.

As I stood there, scrubbing the miniature socks and jeans, I started to feel better. My thought process slowly changed from how angry I was at the window for having the audacity to be broken, to laughing about "K's" constant chatter and enthusiasm, remembering how "A" had walked all over Scandinavian Days with me...even helped me pick my new sunglasses, and thinking how great it was the "S" got along with everyone and wasn't too shy to have fun.

By the time I got to wringing the water from the clothes, I wasn't so much thinking about my broken car window, how Oliver might handle the noisy trip home, or even how much it might strain my budget to get the window replaced. I was just glad that Kristen had decided to bring herself and her three young ladies so we could all enjoy the pleasure of their company...And grateful for the chance to do something helpful for a little family that I adore (...even if the clothes didn't dry out in time to be useful the next day when it was time to be dressed again.)