Friday, June 13, 2008

All Work and No Play...

makes Toby a dull boy. Well, you be the judge. This morning we rolled Toby out of bed at 7:30 to go to job sites with Daddy. This was motivated by two factors. One, Toby usually cries in the morning when I leave because he wants to go with me. Two, Tara was today heading for Jackson, Minnesota to pick up her nephew Keven. The nephew in question will be staying with us for the next two weeks. It made sense to have one less child in the car, especially the one who gets squirmy when left in a car for 2-3 hours.

So we piled in the van before 8:00 and lumbered onto the gravel road together. Toby was still a little groggy but woke up quickly. He was ready for his day.

We did a lot. We opened properties for other contractors, delivered equipment, gave estimates, and the like. Toby, for his part, got to meet Jack and Georgia, a couple of 90-year-olds who have lived in the same house for 51 years and have been married to each other for 67. They were both lucid, interesting, and interactive people, stunning for their age. We will be doing some dirt work on their property to minimize moisture coming into the basement.

Then we went to Veronica's house for roto-tilling. Her 7-year-old daughter squealed when she saw Toby: "Mom, he has a kid with him!" So Toby had a pretty easy time at that house, too. There he learned how to jump on a full-size trampoline and how to chew large gumballs from a gumball machine in the living room.

After our morning escapades, we returned to downtown to the house where Dan is painting some of the upstairs rooms (sub-contracting to me). Dan is awesome and has the ability to uphold his bragging that he can cut an interior with a 4-inch block brush. I've seen his work and I now believe it to be true, though I think he used a 3-inch sash brush instead. :-)

Skipping the end, Toby lasted without a nap for an 11-hour day of contracting. He pressure washed, he stained, he chatted with clients, he played with other people's toys, and he helped Zach carry equipment. He did just about everything I do in a day except billing. Did I mention that Toby is three?

Our nephew Keven is busy testing the boundaries in this household by telling tall tales and trying to say shocking words that will apparently make our boys impressed. So far it hasn't worked too well, thank God. Evan and Aidan are not really buying it. Already Keven has fallen into our pond, which has to be the scummiest water in Minnesota. He has also threaten Evan that he's going to steal Evan's wallet if Evan told about something that he said. Evan (he's Evan) told immediately and then stashed his wallet for safe-keeping while Keven was asleep.

Please join us in praying that God will do amazing things in our lives and in Keven's life while Keven is here with us. It's gonna be a strange two weeks.

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