Okay one more thing. His feet. I'm slightly obsessed. I totally plan on framing this pic and putting it in an 8 X 10 frame. I'm completely serious. And for the record, he drives me nuts. He's the most annoying person I know. Sometimes I attack him with kisses and sometimes I yell OMG go away!! Depends on my mood.
We make mac and cheese like once a week around here. It's okay because it's the organic Annie's brand and we buy it in bulk at Costco so we're being frugal. It's a crowd pleaser. Dan and I don't eat it. We usually feed it to the kids if they have a babysitter or if it's been a week or so since they've had it. It's their fave. And they always fight over who gets to lick the spoon. It's gross. The powdered cheese doesn't completely dissolve ever so there is always clumpy powdery cheese on the spoon.
A few Tuesdays ago, Dan was at work (why do my stories always start off that way?) and I dropped the big girls off at their gymnastics class at 5:00. I came home to make a quick dinner then head back to pick them up. When I was getting ready to leave, I tried to start the car and it wouldn't turn over. I tried a couple more times as I pleaded with my minivan not to do this horrible thing, then freaked out for a minute. I didn't know what to do. By the time AAA came, I would be way too late to pick the girls up. I regretted not making any gymnastics mom friends in case of an emergency. I called my friend Melissa down the street. I think I said something like, "Melissa! Are you home? My car won't start and Mya and Winter are at gymnastics and they get out in 15 minutes and Angus is asleep on the couch (not sure why that was important) and I don't know what to do!"
She replied, "I'll get them! Call the teacher and let her know I'm coming." I told her she was my hero and called the gymnastics teacher, then AAA. As I was waiting for the tow truck, my neighbor Tiffany walked over to return an avocado she had borrowed and asked me if one of my dogs had gotten out. I told her no because I really thought they were both inside. But of course one was indeed missing when I checked. I still have no idea how he managed to escape. By this time it was dark outside and my very black dog was wondering the dark streets. I got a text that the tow truck was 2 minutes away.
Worried that I wouldn't find Twitch before the tow truck came and worried that the tow truck would hit him, I yelled at Addie to stay inside and ran down the street to look for my senile deaf 14 year old lab. I found him several houses down and shewed him back home as the tow truck was showing up. I got him inside just in time to greet the driver. I was out of breath but didn't feel the need to explain myself to the driver. Whew crisis averted.
Twitch lives for a good neighborhood frolic. He sneaks out more than I'd like to admit. But I secretly am happy for him. All he does at home is sleep. When he escapes, he comes alive. He smells everything, greets every person and trots like he's 7 again.
Super nice tow truck man opened my hood, pointed out a lose cap to something, tightened it, and told me to try starting the car again, and it started right up. I was happy that it was an easy fix. I also wished I would have looked under the hood and tried tightening some caps to things... if I knew how to pop my hood. It's in a weird place in my van and I can never find it, especially in the dark. Cars are not my thing... obviously.
Mya goes to a church thing every other Tuesday night called Live Wires. The junior high group also meets Tuesday nights. I had offered to take Melissa's girls before the whole car fiasco. On the way home from picking up my girls from gymnastics she called and said, "I have your girls! Get a change of clothes for Mya and something for her to eat and I'll take her to church. I thanked her again because Angus was still asleep and I hate waking him up. Another friend brought Mya home so I didn't have to keep the little ones up late.
I'm telling you, I get by with so much help from my friends. Not just a little.
Fast forward to last Tuesday. Dan had surgery on his kidney. He had a scan of some sort a few weeks or a few months ago (I'm not good with time) because his back was hurting for weeks and not improving. Maybe an MRI? (I'm not good with medical terms either) The doctor told him the scan showed that his back was fine but one of his kidneys wasn't. He needed surgery.
Christians see God in everything. Things can always be explained away. But the fact that Dan's back got better as soon as we found out about his kidney tells me that was God answering my prayers to keep my husband safe and healthy. We wouldn't have known about his kidney issue until it got much worse and caused some damage most likely. Now he should be good for a long time.
So we scheduled the surgery for last Tuesday. The surgery went well. Everything took way longer than I expected, however. I thought he would be out of recovery and in to a room for the night in the afternoon and I could hang out with him for a couple of hours then go home and come back the next day to bring him home. My saint of a mom watched my kids.
I actually had a lovely time waiting for him all day. I listened to a bunch of podcasts and colored in my grownup coloring book. I actually finished a whole picture which I don't think I've ever done before in one day. And the cafeteria food was quite delicious. A concerned friend texted me to see if I was waiting by myself all day. I replied something like, yes it's amazing! Haha, not quite the response she was expecting. But yeah, I was TOTALLY fine.
When I finally was allowed to go see Dan he was higher than a kite and had a million questions. Well just like 5 questions that he repeatedly asked me. Where am I? What did the doctor say? What time is it? What does my stomach look like? Is everyone being nice to you? Then his eyes would roll back in his head and he would pass out then wake up about 5 minutes later and repeat the same questions. I guess he was in a lot of pain after the surgery and they gave him a heavy dose of pain killers. My mom packed a bag to stay overnight with the kids just in case. She's so smart. So I slept in a recliner that the super nice nurses brought me, and Dan was much better in the morning. We were out of the hospital by 1:00.
On my way home, my friend Jessica called me and told me she was bringing a sick Addie home from school. I arrived in time to get Dan situated upstairs in bed and come back down to get sleeping Addie out of my friend's car. I walked in the house, Addie woke up and put her hand over her mouth so I quickly walked back outside where Addie puked on our front porch. I was super thankful I just had to hose it down instead of scrub it out of a rug forever. Puke smell lingers for months. Also a good thing that she didn't puke in my friend's car. Thanks again Jessica. I appreciate you so much!
Another friend Darla brought the girls home an hour later. Not sure what I would do without you Darla! My mom stayed so I could shower and go buy some groceries. Then I released her to go help others in need. You're the best, Mom.
It's been pretty mellow around here since then. Dan continues to improve and no one else caught Addie's bug. Thank you Jesus! Mari swears by activated charcoal when it comes to preventing the stomach flu. I went out and got some the day Addie puked and gave it to all the kids (via smoothie) and myself. I'm sure I can thank Mari and the charcoal for no one else getting sick.
Mari and I went to Great Wolf Lodge Tuesday and Wednesday with our oldest daughters Mya and Caroline for Caroline's birthday. It was super fun. I've never been a Raging Waters fan because of the bee issue, but this place is indoors so it's pretty much perfect. I had a blast going down those water slides. And in total Mya fashion, she slowly warmed up to going on all the bigger slides that scared her at first. I was so proud of her. At one point, on a four person slide, she started standing up on the raft and surfing down the slide. I pulled her down immediately and told her she was not allowed to surf because the rules clearly state you must be seated, holding on to the handles at all times. "What would your dad say?" I asked her. She pouted for a while. It's so unlike my rule follower to want to break the rules. It's 2019 Mya, wild rule breaker. I was secretly proud of her for being so reckless.
Highlights for Mari and I included sitting on chairs, NOT meeting little people's needs, scrolling on our phones and NOT getting up with early risers at 5:00AM Wednesday morning. It was pretty darn wonderful.
I was tempted to bring my phone down the water slides to capture our funny faces but wasn't sure if I should test out its waterproofness.
Addie experienced her first school valentine exchange yesterday. She came home and poured out her stuff and said, BEST DAY EVER.
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