I should have known my day would be crazy when Walter woke up for a 4:30am nursing. Yes, he still nurses, but usually only in the morning before we all get out of bed. And maybe occasionally when he's super grumpy and tired or when we are in public and he starts squeezing my chest and asking for milk. Oh, that's a fun one. Ha, ha, ha! Yes, I'm being serious. Does that gross you out? I'm kind of a hippy. Didn't you know that?
Well, I was initially worried about him getting in bed with me so early, because I just knew it meant three hours of being kicked in the stomach while having my covers pulled off, but I was delighted to awake at 7:48 realizing I had actually overslept my alarm and needed to get going if I was to make it to choir practice on time.
Before I made it out the door, Henry announced he was sick and had a barf bucket next to him in bed (this happens sometimes when Hank doesn't want to participate in an activity. He can be such a faker), Kate was refusing to eat breakfast and was instead lying on the couch and William was ready to give up. I smiled sweetly and told him I'd see him at church where he could wrestle the kids in the pew while I sang in the choir. He seemed doubtful.
Three minutes into my drive he called and asked me to pick up the kids after choir practice and before church because Henry had indeed puked. Poor Hank had cried wolf too many times and hadn't gotten a drop of sympathy before I had left. I groaned audibly into the phone and told William I'd be there.
I saved a row in the back of the chapel and asked a couple young women to sit with my four children while I sang in the choir. I dashed out the door and called William on my way home to make sure everyone was ready to go, so we wouldn't be late. Jane answered the phone and announced that Kate had MADE herself barf and didn't have to go to church now. I asked William to keep Walter home so I wouldn't risk him barfing in nursery and being on everyone's bad list. He said Walter was just fine, had eaten a full breakfast and was playing with blocks. If I didn't feel comfortable putting him in nursery, I could just keep him with me the whole time. I could tell he wasn't up to the challenge of keeping him home while I enjoyed three hours of church so I said to get him buckled up because I was almost there. He said he'd do it, but that we'd have to jump-start the van because someone had left the interior lights on all night and it was dead. This is when I began to see the humor in the day and decided if Murphy was coming to visit, I might as well enjoy it.
We got the van started with the battery powered charger which William took back into the house to re-charge...even though I suggested we take it with us....just in case. Then off to church we sped, arriving only five minutes late. Thankfully, our pew was still empty and we were able to slide in without making a scene.
When it was time for the choir to sing, the two young women came back to help out while I went up to sing. Our first song was swell with everyone coming in at the appropriate times and cutting off together. I settled down into my choir seat ready to enjoy an uplifting sacrament meeting full of Christmas cheer. I couldn't hear any of my children yelling from the back and decided all was well. That's when a good friend poked he head in the back door and motioned for me to come out. Really? ME? WHY???? Up I stood in the middle of the first talk, feeling like a primary kid who forgot to use the restroom before the meeting, and with a smile on my face trying to pretend that all was well, went to see what the problem was. Turns out, the choirs first song didn't agree with Walter so much and he lost his breakfast all over Jane's skirt and the floor. This was too funny. Jane had a friend's baby blanket wrapped around her legs and her skirt was being rinsed out in the bathroom sink. You can't make stuff like this up. I took Jane and Wally to the van thinking I'd take Walter home to William and let Jane change her skirt. We could still make it back in time for the closing song and enjoy the rest of the meetings. Ha, ha, ha! I forgot Murphy was with us. You guessed it, the van wouldn't start....or go into neutral so I cold back it up to be jump-started AND everyone was in sacrament meeting the Christmas program. Could I discretely find the owner of the van next to us and have him jump-start my van? I called William and said "I told you so" and then asked him to bring the battery operated charger so I could start the car up again. I called him back two seconds later and told him I'd get his dad to come because he didn't have two sick children under the age of seven at home to worry about. Will said one of the young women had just called and announced that Claire had barf on her shoes and coat, so I went back inside, got Claire and all my "stuff" and headed back for the freezing van. Mind you, it was about 30 degrees or so outside and the heater didn't work with the battery dead so the kids were all shivering now.
Papa showed up with his winter gear on and charged our battery with his nifty battery-operated charger. I guess our battery was completely out of juice, because it only gave it enough power to put the car in neutral so we could back it up and charge it with his car battery. We had to let it sit for a whole five minutes with his car running before it would even turn over. The kiddos waited in his car with the heater running so no one sustained any frostbite. By the time sacrament meeting was over we were heading out of the parking lot. I'm so grateful for my sweet father-in-law who so willingly ventured out on a freezing morning to rescue us...and the whole time we was humming a tune with a smile on his face. Thankfully we made it home without incident. Once we got in the driveway Walter showed signs of barfing again so I got a blanket in front of his face before he spewed all over the van. Too bad it got on my nice new coat, but that can be dry cleaned tomorrow.
Walter went straight into the shower. The clothes, blanket and carseat cover went straight into the wash. Then our three little sickies laid around while I discovered that Aunt Flo had arrived for an early visit. Good thing I came home from church early! Wally fell asleep on the couch all bundled up in his blankies. I got caught up on blogging friends while Hank and Kate breathed their stinky breath in my face. After a while Hank went running out to the living room and I could hear him using his barf bucket appropriately. Jane, always the good sister went to check on him and reported that Walter had just woken up and was barfing too. Yippee! More barfy blankets and clothes to wash. I even got to get out my upholstery cleaner and use it on the cushion. When everyone has been barf-free for a couple hours, I'll start doling out the popsicles.
Such a fun day. Kate and Wally are peacefully sleeping, William went to the other ward's sacrament meeting for his spiritual enlightenment and Christmas cheer and I'm blogging. I truly do find humor in a day with so much craziness. I promise, I'm still smiling!
The good news is everyone should be healthy for Christmas if we get this out of our system now!
Well, I was initially worried about him getting in bed with me so early, because I just knew it meant three hours of being kicked in the stomach while having my covers pulled off, but I was delighted to awake at 7:48 realizing I had actually overslept my alarm and needed to get going if I was to make it to choir practice on time.
Before I made it out the door, Henry announced he was sick and had a barf bucket next to him in bed (this happens sometimes when Hank doesn't want to participate in an activity. He can be such a faker), Kate was refusing to eat breakfast and was instead lying on the couch and William was ready to give up. I smiled sweetly and told him I'd see him at church where he could wrestle the kids in the pew while I sang in the choir. He seemed doubtful.
Three minutes into my drive he called and asked me to pick up the kids after choir practice and before church because Henry had indeed puked. Poor Hank had cried wolf too many times and hadn't gotten a drop of sympathy before I had left. I groaned audibly into the phone and told William I'd be there.
I saved a row in the back of the chapel and asked a couple young women to sit with my four children while I sang in the choir. I dashed out the door and called William on my way home to make sure everyone was ready to go, so we wouldn't be late. Jane answered the phone and announced that Kate had MADE herself barf and didn't have to go to church now. I asked William to keep Walter home so I wouldn't risk him barfing in nursery and being on everyone's bad list. He said Walter was just fine, had eaten a full breakfast and was playing with blocks. If I didn't feel comfortable putting him in nursery, I could just keep him with me the whole time. I could tell he wasn't up to the challenge of keeping him home while I enjoyed three hours of church so I said to get him buckled up because I was almost there. He said he'd do it, but that we'd have to jump-start the van because someone had left the interior lights on all night and it was dead. This is when I began to see the humor in the day and decided if Murphy was coming to visit, I might as well enjoy it.
We got the van started with the battery powered charger which William took back into the house to re-charge...even though I suggested we take it with us....just in case. Then off to church we sped, arriving only five minutes late. Thankfully, our pew was still empty and we were able to slide in without making a scene.
When it was time for the choir to sing, the two young women came back to help out while I went up to sing. Our first song was swell with everyone coming in at the appropriate times and cutting off together. I settled down into my choir seat ready to enjoy an uplifting sacrament meeting full of Christmas cheer. I couldn't hear any of my children yelling from the back and decided all was well. That's when a good friend poked he head in the back door and motioned for me to come out. Really? ME? WHY???? Up I stood in the middle of the first talk, feeling like a primary kid who forgot to use the restroom before the meeting, and with a smile on my face trying to pretend that all was well, went to see what the problem was. Turns out, the choirs first song didn't agree with Walter so much and he lost his breakfast all over Jane's skirt and the floor. This was too funny. Jane had a friend's baby blanket wrapped around her legs and her skirt was being rinsed out in the bathroom sink. You can't make stuff like this up. I took Jane and Wally to the van thinking I'd take Walter home to William and let Jane change her skirt. We could still make it back in time for the closing song and enjoy the rest of the meetings. Ha, ha, ha! I forgot Murphy was with us. You guessed it, the van wouldn't start....or go into neutral so I cold back it up to be jump-started AND everyone was in sacrament meeting the Christmas program. Could I discretely find the owner of the van next to us and have him jump-start my van? I called William and said "I told you so" and then asked him to bring the battery operated charger so I could start the car up again. I called him back two seconds later and told him I'd get his dad to come because he didn't have two sick children under the age of seven at home to worry about. Will said one of the young women had just called and announced that Claire had barf on her shoes and coat, so I went back inside, got Claire and all my "stuff" and headed back for the freezing van. Mind you, it was about 30 degrees or so outside and the heater didn't work with the battery dead so the kids were all shivering now.
Papa showed up with his winter gear on and charged our battery with his nifty battery-operated charger. I guess our battery was completely out of juice, because it only gave it enough power to put the car in neutral so we could back it up and charge it with his car battery. We had to let it sit for a whole five minutes with his car running before it would even turn over. The kiddos waited in his car with the heater running so no one sustained any frostbite. By the time sacrament meeting was over we were heading out of the parking lot. I'm so grateful for my sweet father-in-law who so willingly ventured out on a freezing morning to rescue us...and the whole time we was humming a tune with a smile on his face. Thankfully we made it home without incident. Once we got in the driveway Walter showed signs of barfing again so I got a blanket in front of his face before he spewed all over the van. Too bad it got on my nice new coat, but that can be dry cleaned tomorrow.
Walter went straight into the shower. The clothes, blanket and carseat cover went straight into the wash. Then our three little sickies laid around while I discovered that Aunt Flo had arrived for an early visit. Good thing I came home from church early! Wally fell asleep on the couch all bundled up in his blankies. I got caught up on blogging friends while Hank and Kate breathed their stinky breath in my face. After a while Hank went running out to the living room and I could hear him using his barf bucket appropriately. Jane, always the good sister went to check on him and reported that Walter had just woken up and was barfing too. Yippee! More barfy blankets and clothes to wash. I even got to get out my upholstery cleaner and use it on the cushion. When everyone has been barf-free for a couple hours, I'll start doling out the popsicles.
Such a fun day. Kate and Wally are peacefully sleeping, William went to the other ward's sacrament meeting for his spiritual enlightenment and Christmas cheer and I'm blogging. I truly do find humor in a day with so much craziness. I promise, I'm still smiling!
The good news is everyone should be healthy for Christmas if we get this out of our system now!
