Story of my life.

If you are my Facebook friend, you've likely read a shortened version of this story via my status, but it stands to a full telling, I think.

On Friday, Isaac surprised me with the bookshelf I'd been pining after.  Oh, I was so excited!  We carried its hefty boxes in from the car (and don't tell anyone, but my arms are still a little sore), and even though we had more pressing things to do, we opened them up right away.  After carefully sorting the pieces, Isaac began to build her, right in front of my eyes!  I sat on the floor eating peanut butter filled pretzels (SO DELICIOUS, I AM OBSESSED), chattering, and passing tools or parts when requested by the builder.  

It was nearly finished when Isaac unsteadily maneuvered a heavy part, attempting to lay it in a very precise position.  Feeling guilty for my pretzel-eating laziness, I leapt from the floor with the words, "Can I help you?" and just as I took a step forward, my foot tangled with a hammer.  Down I went, crashing into the bookshelf.  

I managed to forcibly rip three shelves from their rightful places and mangle my elbow in the process.

Horror struck, all I could do was stare at the splintered pieces and hyperventilate.  Isaac, in shock, simply answered my earlier question with a quiet, "Nooo."

AHHHHHHHHH!  So frustrating!!  And you should know, tromping around my house like a mountain troll is kind of my specialty.  I break things like its my job.  Remember this?

Olivia, a witness to my spectacle, saw my stricken face and started chanting, "Don't feel bad, Mom.  Don't feel bad.  It's ok, Mom.  We'll just buy another one!  It's ok!" She was so worried for me, it was pretty cute and sad at the same time. 

I pulled myself up, noting my aching arm, and began apologizing profusely.  That poor guy.  He didn't say a word for a good (actually, bad) five minutes.  He just picked up the pieces, nodded to me, then set his mind to trying to figure out a way to salvage the shelves.  The real victims were these little wooden sticks which connect each shelf to the other; a couple were intact, the others were splintered and stuck in their holes.  Amidst my alternating apologies and desperate fix-it schemes ("What could we use in place of those wooden thingies?  Could we whittle some wood chips from the park??" I really said that.), Isaac managed to drill the stubborn little wood guys out and I think he used magic at one point?  But somehow he figured a way to cover up the parts that were destroyed and keep the thing standing in one piece, despite having too few of those connecter pieces.  

AND he was never even mean to me about it, which I think means he deserves a golden statue of some sort.

Here is the book shelf- I haven't filled it yet, obviously, but you can see her in all her non-destroyed glory:

I took out the three shelves on the far left.

We had the most glorious day this week with my car reporting 60 degrees!  

 I mean, yes, it was the proverbial warm-before-the-storm (Is that an everywhere thing or just a Utah thing?  You know, where it's super warm the day before a big snowfall?), and it hasn't stopped snowing today, but it was kind of a best of both worlds thing.  Super warm, jacket temperature one day, winter wonderland the next.

Olivia zipped around outside for the first time on her birthday scooter.

 

And when she got tired of zipping, she ran and ran until her cheeks were pink and she was gasping for breath.  It did my heart a lot of good to see that rosy color since we so seldom have the opportunity to really exercise in the winter.  Can you find her racing little body in the picture above?

I will help you:

That park is a whole lot prettier today, all covered in fresh snow.  

More running.

Nest-building.

Olivia's Yogurtland from last week.  I love that place so much.

She paints such pretty pictures.

Well, this should be up with the other park pictures, but moving it seems like quite the hassle.  She loves to swing, which made my arms all the more sore.  This was an Instagram February photo a day with the instructions "sun". 

Another February photo a day with the caption, "makes you happy".  Ice cream and Olivia, my two favorites!

And this is a picture of Thomas trying on his brother's hat.

P.S. Here's a little video of the little man walking.  It's my favorite.  Sorry the quality is so poor, I can't figure out why since it looked great before uploading.  

The End.