Birthday Party Dilemmas

For the Caviness family the birthday season is now on, at least for the kids. Halle's comes first at the end of school, then comes Sean's in the middle of summer followed by Chad's just before school starts. My kids love birthdays! (Is there anyone who doesn't?) I always try to give them a fun party based on the theme of their choice.

Halle just had her 6th birthday party today. Halle is quite obsessed with birthday parties and has been planning her party for a whole year. But after today I may not ever do it again.


Planning

Now birthday parties always need a plan. The fun plans are things like: what kind of party should we have, what kind of cake, what games shall we play, what color of balloons should we use? etc. These plans are also easy since my kids usually make all these decisions.

The planning I don't like entails things like: when will I get the laundry folded, how will I get the WHOLE house clean on time, how late can I stay up getting everything ready and still be awake and sane the next day? Maybe I'm a procrastinator, but really - if I cleaned everything in stages days before - do you really think it would still be clean and organized? If you answered "yes" than you don't have kids. So, basically everything has to happen in one day (that's about as long as my kids survive being banished to the toy room downstairs).

So now that I am already exhausted with getting everything ready - let's have 12 girls come over and party!



Invitations

Who are you supposed to invite to birthday parties? Next year, if I have another party, I would like a small intimate group! But who are you supposed to leave out. Halle has been blessed with a lot of really good friends, all in the church. But I also want her to have friends outside the church and to have friends at school.

As I wrote down a list of all her friends I realized it would be no small group. But I wanted Halle to have the birthday party she wanted and all the friends she wanted. The more the merrier, right?

After the list was complete, and including Halle, I had 11 girls. Seemed like an odd number and I had enough stuff for goody bags for 12 so I set out to invite one more girl. But who should it be? It was a toss up between the only girl in her primary class that didn't get invited or the daughter of someone my husband home teaches. Either girl knows Halle, but has never played with her. In the end I couldn't decide and let it be. 11 girls - unless something else came up of course.


Recruiting Help

Sometimes you think you are superwoman and sometimes you don't. As the birthday party date started getting closer I kept flip-flopping in the confidence of my abilities to host 11 little girls. I had thought several times of asking my neighbor, Gina to help me out. She is in 4th grade and rides the bus to school from our neighborhood with Chad and Halle every morning. Halle just adores Gina - being an older and more mature girl. But, then I decided I would be just fine - I could be superwoman.

Halle decided otherwise. Without me mentioning any of my thoughts about Gina to Halle, she went ahead and invited Gina to her birthday party (without my knowledge). When the mom asked me if Gina could really come, what was I to say? Gina really did seem to want to come so I said I would love it if she could be my helper. What Gina really wanted was not to have to go to express after school and this was her way out.

The plan was for Chad and Gina to take the bus home and then walk together to my house. Chad was to play with his friend and Sean downstairs and Gina would be my party helper.

At precisely 3:08pm my phone rang. I figure it must be someone calling about the party. A cancellation, directions? It is my neighbor girl, Gina. She has missed the bus. She asks if I can come and pick her up. I feel totally awful - but tell her I can't. Some of my guests will be arriving early and I am expecting them any time. I don't have time to go and pick her up. I tell her I am so sorry and to see if she can get into express. She answers that she will call her mom.

Two minutes later the first of my guests arrive - the party has started. I plan on calling Gina's mom myself to apologize and see if she is okay, but by that time the phone is ringing off the hook (people needing directions, my sister-in-law) and girls and boys are running around. Before I know it the party is in full swing and I totally forget to call Gina's mom.

But, don't worry, at 4:20 Gina shows up at my door. She found a friend at school who's mom brought her home and then she walked to my house. So, I am glad she is safe. But she has missed all the games and the craft that I was counting on her help for. I put her straight to work setting the table for decorating cupcakes.

Gina was a good help, when she got there and I hope she had fun. But since both her parents were working, she had to stay at my house until her dad got home around 6:00pm. This is just fine, because it is part of the plan.


Where's Your Mom?

One of the little girl's mother had a hard time finding my house. She called to get directions - but since the party was already started and girls were everywhere I didn't hear the phone ring. Just as I noticed I had a message and tried to call her back she arrived at my door. Halle was so happy to see her little friend from school.

The party invitation said from 3:30 - 5:00. Now I'm not a time Nazi. I have no problem with people dropping their kids off early or picking them up late - if that works out better for them. But I did start to get worried when all the moms but one had picked their daughters by 5:15pm. It was the same girl whose mother had a hard time finding the place. Had she got lost again?

5:30pm came and went. Maybe she thought the party was going until 5:30. 6:00 comes and goes. Where is this girls' mother? It was no problem. Halle and her played great together. I just didn't understand why her mother was so late and hadn't called.

Finally around 6:15 the last mother arrives. She is so sorry. Apparently she ran out of gas. And then while she was waiting for help her battery died. So it took her awhile to get out of the predicament she was in. After she left I noticed there was another message on the machine - it was the mom explaining what had happened. How come I didn't hear the phone? Oh well - glad everything worked out.


Who's that girl?

The biggest surprise of the day was to have an unexpected guest at Halle's party. I'm sure I totally did the wrong thing and I've been flustered ever since and I'm still not sure what to do. What would you have done? Here's what happened.

Trying to get out of my comfort zone and get to know some new people, I let Halle invite a few of her friends from kindergarten. We don't have a school directory, so I couldn't call or mail the invitations to her friends. The plan was for Halle to take the invitations to school and give them to her 4 friends very discreetly (we had a whole talk about not hurting other people's feelings - so not to talk about her party at school or mention who was invited, etc.).

When Halle came home that day I asked her how it went. She said she really sneakily put each invitation in each friend's desk. She then mentioned to me that her friend Haleigh wasn't there. I asked her what she did with Haleigh's invitation. Was it still in her backpack? Halle said she put it in the desk and left it there for her tomorrow.

It didn't cause me too much concern, even though they share desks with the afternoon class taught by a different teacher. Usually Halle's teacher does a desk check before they leave. Anyone who is absent - their papers (memos' for home) are collected and then given to them when they return. I was sure the invitation would either get to the teacher or still be there the next morning. After all, it had a big "Haleigh" written on it.

The week went on and I didn't think about the invitation again. On Friday Halle mentioned that all her friends from school said they were coming but that Haleigh hadn't received her invitation. I figured there were many reasons for that. The teacher forgot to give it to her or misplaced it. Haleigh lost it before she showed her mom. Maybe an alien stole it. Hey - you never know with kids.

I told Halle not to worry that she could take another one with her to school on Monday. So Haleigh received a new invitation. And her mom called and RSVP'd.

Before the party everyone had RSVP'd except one girl. Halle assured me she was coming and I planned on it but wasn't for sure about it. Late morning, on the day of the party, I received a phone call. I'm not the best at hearing on the phone (or apparently hearing it ring) and didn't quite hear everything a quick and quiet voice said on the other side. All that I remember is, "My daughter will be able to come to your party." "Great! " I told her and the conversation was done. I didn't recall hearing the name, "Grace, " but assumed that it must have been her mother that called since she was the only one that had not RSVP'd.

As the guests start coming, Halle gets more and more excited. She is so bubbly about finally having her party and having all her friends come to play. She does a great job of playing host by showing everyone where to put their shoes and their presents and then shows them where to start decorating their fairy wings.

Several guests have arrived when a mother and daughter start walking up to our door. I've never seen either of them before in my life. They ask if this is Halle's party. So of course I say, "Yes." I'm a little confused and paralyzed with what I am supposed to do. Why are they here? The girl looks ready and excited for a party - how do I tell them that they were not invited and that I don't know them?

As they come in the door Leighton sees them and yells out the girls name, "Arianna." All of a sudden my mind does some clicking. First click - Leighton knows Arianna - she must be in the pm kindergarten class - she must have gotten the invitation for Haleigh. Second click - I think I remember the name "Arianna" from the phone call earlier, but was thinking that "Arianna" was the mother's name and she was introducing herself. How could I be such a block head?

I still don't know what to do. I don't mind another girl coming and having fun - but I am feeling guilty about her bringing a present for someone she doesn't even know. I hate confrontation and I hate making people feel bad. So, I do nothing. Talk about sins of omission!!!! And before I know it the mother has left.

I try to make Arianna feel as welcome as possible. She and Leighton hang out together and Halle even includes her in everything. But still, I am wondering where this will all go. I plan on explaining the mistake and returning the present to the mom when she comes back to collect her daughter. And hope she doesn't feel too awkward at the crazy situation.

The party is almost at an end and I let the girls loose so they can just play. They all rush, like a herd of screaming elephants, down to Halle's room. I am glad for a few moments of piece and quiet. As they play downstairs I do a little cleaning up. And before I know it the mommies are arriving. As I go down to collect a couple of the girls I notice that Halle has taken down one of her presents with her. Which present? Arianna's of course - the one that I was going to return. It was Hannah Montana make-up and all the girls were eager to put some on. There was no way I could return it now.

So, again, when the mom came to collect Arianna I totally froze as to what to say or do. They left without a word from my mouth. And now of course I am going mental about what I should have done and what they are thinking. Has Arianna told her mother that she had no clue who the birthday girl was? Why did I let them in? Why didn't I say anything? Will I ever see her again?

My thinking - I didn't want to embarrass them and didn't want to disappoint a little girl who thought she was going to a birthday party.

But, was it a hardship for them? Was buying a present a burden? Was using up gas to come to my house a burden? You just don't know what kind of situation people are coming from.

Or, was it fun to be invited to a birthday party. Did she make new friends.

Why were they not confused at the invitation being addressed to "Haleigh." Was it because the name "Halle" was inside?

Oh well, what's done is done. Next year (if there is a party next year) I will personally hand deliver each and every invitation to the correct recipient.

My Mother's Day Poem

For my very first mother's day my great husband wrote me a poem. It always helps remind me of how exciting and scary it was to become a mom. So I thought I would share it.

Lara's First Mother's Day


Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring just our little mouse.
His presence was tiny although no one else knew.
Just one more gift for daddy with little wrapping to do.

There was another test that had to be done,
Making sure things were positive before all the fun.
You had a special gift for me to open at the end.
When I pressed to go earlier you just wouldn't bend.

It was then I began to think what could this gift be,
Was it something she bought special for me?
I did have one thought, I knew Lara was late.
Is that why she made sure for this I must wait.

Looking at my brother, Jeff, with him looking back
I think it was then I knew what was in the sack.
As I pulled the stick up close to my eye
I saw the results and started to cry.

It was the perfect news on that special day.
We now would be parents we had one on the way.
It seemed kind of crazy just didn't seem real
What were all these feelings we started to feel?

I must admit our feelings were not quite the same.
During the next few months mine were still very tame.
It was Lara who started feeling sick all the while.
Still teaching each day with it tough to put on a smile.

Although happy inside she was really quite brave
When all sorts of strange things she started to crave.
It was Popsicles that became the main food of choice
Then it was milk and soon it was beef that had a voice.

At week twenty visiting doctor Nance was in store.
A boy or a girl we wouldn't wait anymore.
The ultrasound let us see arms, legs, hands, and feet
Including the part that makes all males complete.

With the news came the thought just what should we do?
Our minds turned to shopping - buying everything blue.
It started with clothes which then led to more
A crib, a car seat and everything else in the Babies R'Us store.

As our child began to grow, Lara's waistline did too.
And don't forget the feet that also was new.
Lifting weights and walking the track were rituals each day.
But it was the water aerobics that helped keep the heat at bay.

Now what would we call him, no name to adorn
We decided on "Newt" just until he was born.
And then it was on to the prenatal class
With everyone there just hoping to pass.

The third day of school came when Lara was induced.
A healthy baby boy was born and mommy's tummy reduced.
He let out a scream of emotion, the meaning not clear.
After ten hours our bundle of joy was really here.

The first days were tough and much of a blur.
Did this finally happen, did it really occur?
We took our son home on a warm August night
So grateful he was OK and everything turned out all right.

There was not a difference between night and day
We had to take care of Chad's needs in just the right way.
To get our son on a schedule it took quite a while
When he slept through the night we awoke with a smile.

He continues to learn and now knows how to crawl.
When feeding time comes he sure wants it all.
When Chad meets new people he hasn't smiled a lot.
Was it some of those genes from LaVell that he got?

Our son likes other children and loves all the girls.
But when you look at his blond hair it will not have any curls.
Daddy and Grandpa like to play kind of rough
Unless Mommy and Nanny see putting an end to that stuff.

Cause Daddy is working for most of the day
It's mommy who gets to stay home and play.
Day in and day out Lara has done the mother's part
Giving all of her love straight from her big heart.

I still can't believe how blessed I am to be a mother. And now that I am a mother myself I can finally really understand all that my mother did for me.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!!!!

Photos for the thousand words I don't have time to write

I'm still behind on many a post. I do have Easter and Spring break captured on photos - and that will have to be enough for now.



For Spring break click below
http://www.photoshow.com/watch/jE4Ac7bm



For Easter click below
http://www.photoshow.com/watch/aJ3DE4Se

Unexpected Blessings

I've had a few unexpected blessings as of late. I love that I am being watched over and helped as I walk awkwardly forward in my life.

My first experience of being blessed came as a twosome. Our dish DVR broke and I was really sick during conference weekend. Yes, it felt like we were back in the dark ages with not being able to record, pause or rewind live TV. And no, I don't really enjoy being sick. But these two disadvantages turned into a real advantage.

Usually during conference time I have the greatest of intentions of listening, feeling the spirit, and setting goals as I listen to the inspired speakers. And I always do get something out of conference - how can you not?! But I also can't stand to sit still so long and I usually try to get something done while I am listening. (Or spend my time trying to keep the kids to a minimal volume and level of activity.) If I do miss something I know that I can always watch it again (thanks to DVR) or read it as soon as it is printed in the next month's Ensign. So plainly speaking, this gives me an unconscious excuse to not really listen, or pay attention, or to even fall asleep during the duration of General Conference.

With being sick I had absolutely no desire to leave the couch. I had my warm blanket an incredible supply of tissues and a handy garbage bag.

So with no excuse to do anything else and paying more attention than usual I really, really, really enjoyed conference this year. It seemed like every talk was just for me and my mind was continually flooded with personal inspiration and ways that I needed to improve my life or validation of things that I was already doing. I know I would not have gotten so much out of conference if the DVR and not been broke and I had not been sick!!!!!

I am also incredibly grateful for the priesthood and for members all over the world who are willing to serve.

After getting out of the shower on Thursday morning I realized there was a message waiting on the answering machine. As I listened it was pure shock as my mom told me my dad was in the ER. He had been having bad chest pains all night and had finally taken himself to the hospital. They were doing tests but hadn't heard anything else.

My mom lives in Utah (our home base) while my dad works in Las Vegas and lives in a Condo down there during the week and flies home to Utah on the weekends.

It was kind of scary for us for a while. My dad was all alone in Las Vegas. He had briefly called my mom to let her know what was happening - but was in too much pain to really talk and the battery on his cell phone was low so he didn't have much time left to talk either.

For hours we waited to hear what was happening. I didn't know whether I needed to pull my kids out of school and drive down to Utah and then drive my mom down to Vegas or what we needed to do. My mom didn't know the name of the hospital he was at and he wasn't answering his cell phone.

Once my mom did get some more information it turned out that he had a blocked artery into his heart and they would need to operate to put a stint in. I never felt to helpless to be so far away and not able to do anything. But there were some things we could do. My mom called up my dad's Vegas bishop and called the Provo temple to put his name on the prayer role.

Luckily my brother drove my mom down to Vegas (I keep forgetting that he is now off his mission and going to BYU). So at least someone was on the way. Before they arrived two different sets of "hometeachers" stopped by to give my dad a blessing. Several other people from the ward stopped by too. What is so fantastic is that these people don't even know my dad. As he usually always returns to Utah for the weekends he has hardly ever attended his Las Vegas ward. But here were all these people ready to serve a fellow member of the gospel.

Even though I couldn't be there in person to put my arms around him and give him a big old hug I knew he was being looked after.

My mom and brother made it to Vegas by midnight and were allowed to see my dad. They then crashed at his condo for a couple of hours before they were back at the hospital at 5:00am for the start of my dad' surgery. Everything went well!!!!

My dad is now feeling great and is even going back into work tomorrow (can you believe that?). And my mom and brother are safely back in Utah.

I am also thankful for my little bookgroup that kept me buoyed up while I was troubled inside. And more than anything I am thankful for the reassuring hugs of my husband - he always melts all my troubles away.

I'm Ready to Join a Nudist Colony!

Seriously, I am ready to force myself and my family into a nudist colony.

I'm sure you are all saying, "Lara? Nudist colony? Has she totally lost it this time?!!!"

Is it because I want to show off my fabulous body from all my stringent exercise and dieting? (I did try dieting several times this year and I exercised at least three different times since January!). Ha, ha, ha, --- NO!!!!!! Unfortunately my body would be the only down side to my new idea for those that had to look at it.

Then why this new obsessive idea? Because our church leaders have totally encouraged it!!!! Doesn't it seem that lately a lot of talks and suggestions by respected leaders in the church have told us to keep our priorities straight, to make family our number one commitment, and to cut out the foo-foo. That there are lots of good things to do - but we shouldn't get so over whelmed.

Well, I am totally overwhelmed and so tired of devoting so many of my living hours to LAUNDRY!!!!!!!!

I spent at least an hour folding Monday, yesterday and today. I finally finished all the folding. But does that mean I'm done? Haa - not in the least. It means I still have to put it all away. And once I've accomplished that I'm sure I will be hearing a call from the laundry room of, "wash me, wash me!" from all the newly acquired dirty clothes sitting in the wash-me pile. And it all starts again!!!!!

Just think of it - if we didn't wear clothes any more - no more Laundry!!!!!! WAHOOOO. No more ironing (like that gets done anyways), no more folding, no more putting away. You would never hear the words, "Mom I don't know what to wear," or "Mom, I don't have anything to wear," or "Mom, where are all of my clothes," because there wouldn't be any!!!!!

Not only would you save time - but think of the huge savings in your monthly and yearly budget. No more back to school shopping!!! No more having to hit the right sales. No clothes that lasted less than a year because the kids out grew them or wore them out.

Of course I wouldn't be able to live in Spokane anymore. Way to cold to be without clothes. So I guess I will put up all our now unneeded clothes for sale. And from all the money we make we will move somewhere warm and sunny. (I think we could splurge on sunblock!)

Who wants to join?

My Own Little World of March Maddness

Just in case you are dying from suspense as to what happened to us and our cars - well we are all alive and moving. Kind brother Amato came to help Chris out late Wednesday night. They were able to jack up the car and reattach the tie-rod. The car is now drivable (cross your fingers) so Chris and get back and forth to work until spring break when we will finally be able to get it to a mechanic.

I also took the van in for an oil change and was told that my battery was not passing inspection - no big surprise there. So I had a new battery put in. So now the van should be great for a while.

March has just been marching along - and mostly without me - my mind is still back in February and the weather certainly isn't helping me adjust to spring time. So, here's to a big blog with lots of catching up.

A Rare Sunny Day

My kids love to be outside but unless it is a favorable temperature I do not. But this day (March 7) was beautiful. Halle and Sean rode their bikes and then decided that climbing the tree would be fun. So I quickly ran into the house to grab my camera and practice some photography. (Even though you can learn how to do photography, you still have to practice and have some innate talent - all of which I am lacking.) I was glad to be outside as I still can't get a decent indoor picture. And then I worked on framing what I shot by the rule of thirds and getting up close (I could still probably get closer but this was really good for me as I usually try to get ALL the background too.).

Halle is pretty pleased with herself that she is up in the tree. And she doesn't mind posing for pictures at all - my kids love cameras!

Sean loved being up in the tree - he is a natural little monkey.

Track and Field

Yes, it is that time of year again. Track season started the last week of February. My poor husband was out there for several days shoveling off the track so they could have at least two lanes to work out on after all that snow we received.

The first meet of the year was a Jamboree at Ferris High school. As you can see from the picture it was the perfect track day - cold and wet.

Plastic bags to sit on, umbrellas, warm coats, gloves, and popcorn. What more could you want at a track meet?

Chris over at the high jump. He is the one with the grey hoody over his head, red coat, black pants and black bag standing right in front of the high jump.

After a lot of thought, Chris gave up his position of being the head coach. For now I will just say "politics" but if you want more of the story, just mention track and I will give you an ear full.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day was a full day for us. It started with snow in the morning and having a fun breakfast to painting Easter eggs. We've never really thought twice about St. Patrick's Day before (except to wear green so you don't get pinched) but after reading all the fun ideas on other peoples blogs last year I thought it would be fun to do a little something more.

Is spring really on its way?

The kids thought green pancakes for breakfast was ingenious. Partly because they are green and partly because I never cook in the morning. We usually always have pancakes at dinner time. They also had green milk to go with them.

Chad devised his very own leprechaun trap. He put signs on it that said: "If you give me your gold I will set you free." and "This way for gold." Apparently they had been studying leprechauns at school and had to write a paper and draw a picture of how they would capture a leprechaun. Chad went a step further and really built one. We didn't catch one this year, but there is always next year!!!!

All dressed in green for school. No one is going to pinch my kids!

After school we painted Easter eggs - yes, on St. Patrick's Day. It was the only day we could do it before my mum had to leave. Sean thought he was in heaven - eggs and paint!!!! Notice he has no shirt - because I had to quickly remove it and run it down to the laundry room before all the stains set in.

Chad and Halle are both professional egg decoraters now and had a lot of fun.

The kids with their nanny and their colorful Easter eggs.

A 1st/2nd Grade Bug Musical

Chad's music teacher put on a musical for the first and second graders at Adams. It was way fun to watch. She did a fantastic job - especially since she is 81/2 months pregnant.

Chad wanted to be a spider - so I attached some extra arms to a spider shirt he already had. He thought it was so cool.

Chad was also assigned a speaking part in the musical. I was so proud of him. Usually he is really shy in front of a lot of people and really self-conscious. I was also nervous in case he had the "bumpies" while he tried to say his lines. But he did great!

Chad morphs into a spider.

Everyone is ready for a bugs picnic.

Chad delivers his lines.

Car Trouble and Protection

I've started dreading Tuesdays. It's usually Mondays - just because they are Mondays and it is all about getting back into schedule after spontaneous weekends. But Tuesdays seem to bring me trouble. If a child is sick, if there is a conflict in my schedule, or something just goes wrong it is usually on Tuesday. So one of my friends has been getting a weekly phone call every Tuesday to help bale me out of whatever sticky situation I've gotten into.



"What happened this Tuesday?" you might ask. "A dead battery in my minivan," I would answer.



Going to turn on the van and having nothing happen is not something new. No, it happens every once in a while - after all we have kids! One of the selling features of our van was that any light that was left on was supposed to turn itself off before draining the battery. Well, that is not true - I have had plenty of proof proving otherwise.



So, Tuesday comes. I let all the kids out the door at 8:40am to run to the bus stop. I go to the garage to get in the van. (I drive the van to the bus stop, so that after Chad and Halle are picked up for school I can then quickly get Sean into the van and wisk him right off to school too.) As soon as I open the door I can hear the click-click-click sound of the battery trying to work. I still try to start the engine - but there is absolutely no juice left and it just sits there ignoring me - not even recognizing that I have thrust the key in the ignition and tried to turn the engine over several times with extra animated action.



After the sickening feeling of OH NO!!!!! I get out and walk calmly to the bus stop. (But inside I know I am going to kill who ever did this.) Tuesday is also my busy day. After dropping Sean off at preschool (which has been no easy matter lately) I go and help out at Halle's Kindergarten class. Then I pick up Sean and Nicole from preschool. I drive out of my way to deliver Nicole to her day care. On the way home I stop by Rite Aid for milk (if you use your Rite Aid card on Tuesday you get a 10% discount on your purchases so milk only ends up costing $2.51 a gallon - hey cheaper than gas).



Then Sean and I come home and wait for the bus to drop Halle off from school. After walking home we have lunch and relax for a short while. At 12:50 I usually drop Sean and Halle off at a friend's house so I can go back to the school and volunteer in Chad's classroom. I leave his classroom at 2:30 to pick up my kids. We go home. I try to put Sean down for a nap (sometimes works) and then wait for Chad to come home.



Then it is time to make sure the kids have their piano practicing done and homework done while I fix dinner. We usually eat around 4:15 so that gives us plenty of time to eat and get ready to go to gymnastics. We leave for Halle's gymnastics around 5:00pm. Class starts around 5:30 and goes to 6:30. And on the way home we stop by Costco for gas. When we are finally home it is around 7:00pm and time to tidy up the house and get kids ready for bed.



So as you can see, not having a car on Tuesday is a nightmare.



My solution? First, call a friend to make sure Sean gets to preschool. (Priority number one for sanity reasons.) Second, I ask my neighbor to give me a jump. Life should go smoothly after that. But, it is Tuesday remember, so life it not that simple. I can't get the van out of park to push it out of the garage so I can jump it. For some reason the gear shift is totally locked up and nothing I do seems to work. The van is STUCK!!!!



Plan B - steal (oh, I mean borrow) my husbands car. After all it is just sitting in the school parking lot collecting bird poop. Might as well take advantage of that.

When my friend comes to pick Sean up I jump in the car too and have her take us both to Ferris. After finally getting Sean to stay I walk over to the faculty parking lot and drive off in the Mazda (zoom, zoom, zooooom.) I had forgotten to take car seats with me - so I quickly drive back home to collect them and then return to Adams to do my classroom volunteering.

I proceed through the rest of my day as already outlined above. In between all my running around I keep trying to get the van out of park and into neutral so I can give it a jump. It is really starting to bug me now that I can't move the stupid gear shift.

After coming home after my second shift at Adams I finally take some time to read through the owners manual to our van. After some valiant searching I find the section that shows me how to jimmy off a little piece of hidden plastic in the steering wheel with a screw driver so that I can then insert my key into it to override the gear shift lock that is totally messing up my day. It takes a little bit of work and patience but finally - yee-haw I can finally knock that baby into neutral.

Thankfully my mom is still around and I have her steer and brake the van as I push it out of the garage. I maneuver the Mazda around and then connect the jumper cables. In no time at all (remember I've had a lot of practice at this) the van is finally running. Life feels so much better now. We pile the kids in the car and the van. I take off for Ferris in Chris' car and my mom follows in the van. We drop the car off for him, drive around for another 20 minutes to make sure the battery is well charged up, and then we all go home.

At home, it is time to get dinner going. There is actually a change in plans for tonight. Instead of gymnastics we will all be going to Adams to watch Chad's 1st/2nd grade musical. It starts at 6:30pm. I feel like a complete nerd as I usher everyone out of the house by 6:00pm so we can get a good parking spot and a good seat. But as we arrive - I realize I'm not quite the nerd I think I am as the place is already pretty packed.

We find some good seats (towards the back) and save an extra one for Chris, who will be joining us as soon as he makes it home from track practice, gobbles down some food, and changes for bishopric meeting so he can get there right after the musical.

Chris finally arrives just after they have started. I am on one end of the row, he is on the other with my mom and two kids between us - so there is not much conversation. We enjoy the musical. The kids were really cute - all dressed up as bugs for a picnic. Chad has a speaking part and does really well. Most of all he is pleased with the spider costume I was able to create for him.

After the show Chris lets me know that he will be needing a ride to the church. "WHY?" I ask cautiously, already knowing that something is wrong. Well it turns out the Mazda that I had been driving around all day was a death trap ready to happen. Just as Chris was trying to park it a big metal rod (the "tie-rod") that connects the wheels to the car (SLIGHTLY IMPORTANT!!!) broke off and the wheels became uncontrollable.

All I could think about is how blessed I had been that it not happened while I had been driving here and there all day. And then it hit me how very blessed and looked after we all were - that it happened then and not at any other time. Not in traffic, not while driving, not with kids in the car, but just as Chris was parking on the side of the road. I can't imagine what would have happened if the tie-rod had come off while one of us was driving on the free-way!!!!!!! It still freaks me out to think about it.

At the moment, Chris' car is still parked by Adams (hope no vandalism occurs to it). With my mom now gone and Chris working 12+ hour days I don't know when we will get it fixed. So we are now a one van family. And anyone draining the battery will be walking from now on (along with the rest of us).