Have You Ever Had A Day Like This???

(Note: This entry is mostly for my own personal history but feel free to read and have a good laugh!)

It was Friday morning, and I was SO glad we were a day away from the weekend. It had been a long week with Blake working a ton! I think the effects of him being gone was starting to take its toll on me.

I woke up early so I would have time to shower, get kids dressed and fed before the busy day began. Grant woke up grumpy and he and Addie began fighting over some random toy almost immediately. Pretty normal.

We ate breakfast, packed lunches and the diaper bag and flew out the door to go to Target before Ethan's swim lessons began so we could get a gift for Ethan's friend's party (which was right after swimming). When we got to Target, Addie began flipping out because she saw the shopping carts and no longer wanted to sit in her stroller. She began climbing out of her stroller so I grabbed the nearest toy from the dollar section and gave it to her. It was an Elmo book and it held her attention for about 3 minutes.

I darted to the toy section where Ethan proceeded to start begging and pleading for a toy...any toy. Determined to keep him quiet and cooperative, I finally agreed to an 89 cent rubber frog, if he behaved. Grant immediately wanted one too.

We checked out and Grant reluctantly handed back the toy I had given him to keep him happy. Addie on the other hand was not so easy. When I attempted to take away her Elmo book, she went postal on me. So, FINE...I bought the dang book for $1.

I loaded up the kids and flew to swim lessons. After getting Ethan off, I realized that Addie had ripped almost every page out of the new Elmo book I had just purchased. ARGH!

I picked up Ethan 30 minutes later and we were off to the park for his friend's birthday party. Of course it was one of the hottest days of the year and we were dying out in the heat. I put all the kids in swings to cool them down while waiting for his friend. After 30 minutes of waiting, Grant and Addie were bored with the swings so I let them out. I saw Addie dart in front of Ethan's swing so I ran to get her out of the way. What I didn't see was that Grant had darted behind Ethan's swing and the next thing I heard was a thud and saw Grant get totally knocked down and face plant into the mulch ground. Of course Grant was bawling and it took a while to make sure the poor little guy didn't have a concussion or something.

Ethan's friends arrived and they had a great time playing. But, after a while, it was too hot to stay any longer, so we left. I promised the kids a drink from McDonald's since I was out of water and their faces were bright red. As I was driving there, I went around a corner and heard a THUD and then a SCREAM from the back of the car. The stroller had fallen over and whacked Ethan right in the head. I pulled over quickly to assess the damage. He was okay but had a good bump on his head.

I drove to McDonald's and promised him a smoothie to make it all better. We waited in the longest line I've ever seen. We finally got our drinks and I pulled over to hand them out. Literally 15 seconds after I handed Ethan his smoothie I heard him scream. I ran to the back to find that he had spilled his smoothie all over the back of the car. I tried to keep my cool and clean it up. Luckily he still had enough to salvage some.

We went home and I could not get the kids to bed fast enough. After nap time, I needed to go to Sam's Club. I was hoping that Blake would make it home early so I could go alone but he got held up at work. So, off we went to the store. As I was pulling out of the driveway, Ethan complained that his seat belt was twisted. So, I got out to fix it. He had it so twisted that I couldn't even slide the buckle. In the process, I literally snapped my fingernail in half and it started bleeding all over and it KILLED! That's when I should have called it a day and gone back inside. But after bandaging it all up, we were off again.

Once at Sam's Club, we were doing alright for the first 10 minutes. Then the twins started hitting each other and making each other crazy as they sat next to each other in the front of the cart. This fighting went on for a while when suddenly I realized they weren't fighting anymore. In fact, they were STRANGELY quiet. I moved from the back of the cart to the front where they were and to my surprise, realized that they had reached behind them, opened the carton of strawberries, and were going to town eating them as fast as their little hands could move. AAHH!!!

That was it. I flew to the check out to get the heck out of there. Blake was on his way but was stuck in traffic and couldn't get there in time to help with the shopping. I checked out and as soon as I stepped out of the store, my heart dropped. It was raining. Not just raining...it was down pouring. Lightning, thunder...the works. What could I do? The car was too far to feel comfortable leaving the kids there while I pulled up. So, we ran for it. The kids are screaming and crying because they are wet. Grant and Addie are hysterical, fighting over the one tiny umbrella I had. The food is soaked and I'm drenched. Grant and Addie are insisting on buckling themselves into their car seats while I'm trying to force them in quickly because I'm soaked. I load up the food and kids and sit in the driver's seat trying to get some sense of composure when the phone rings...it's Blake...."I'm a minute away from Sam's Club. Do you still need my help?"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I drove home and LITERALLY 2 minutes into the drive, the sky clears, the sun appears and it's beautiful.

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That night, before I crawl to my bedroom and nearly collapse into bed, I went to check on the kids to make sure they were covered up and warm. As I stood looking over them, I was filled with an amazing sense of pure love for these beautiful little creatures. I was totally overwhelmed at how lucky I was to be entrusted with these special little spirits. I know that someday I will miss these times where I get to snuggle my kids to sleep and get the world's best hugs and kisses. I had to grab my camera as I just watched them breathe.


I couldn't help but think of the words to one of my favorite songs by Trace Adkins:

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days
Hadn't gone by so fast

These are some good times

So take a good look around

You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this.

So, when I start crying to a friend at church because the kids were so naughty during sacrament meeting or think that I can't do this job one more day, I'm going to try my best to remember the message to that song. I know someday I WILL miss this. Instead, I'm going to try to count my blessings 1-2-3 every day! I am the luckiest mommy!