I was about to sit down to blog about the adventure our family just had when Jeff reminded me that this past adventure was only one of the many we experienced this week. Allow me to recount, if you will...
Sunday:
A fairly uneventful Sunday comprising of Sunday school, church and naps until... We are vegging out in the living room, enjoying playing with the kiddos and catching snippets of the Pro Bowl. Jeff is laying on couch. Hank is wrestling with Jeff laying on couch. Hank jumps on Jeff. Hank's teeth meet Jeff's knee. Jeff hears a snap. Hank immediately covers his mouth and lets out a blood-curdling scream. First words out of Jeff's mouth, "It's bad, babe." I grab a rag, take it to Jeff, then grab the phone...not sure who I thought I was going to call, but I was ready. Jeff looks at Hank's mouth to find one of his front two teeth slightly pushed inward...and a lot of blood. Once we got Hank calmed down, and our blood pressure to return to normal, we were able to think a little more clearly. I called our pediatric dentist office, got an emergency number, but decided to wait until the morning to call. We moved Hank's tooth back into place and just kept a rag on it to take care of the bleeding. The next morning there was still slight bleeding and his gum was badly bruised, but his tooth continued to stay in place and didn't feel too loose. The pediatric dentist office reassured me (they made it sound like they get calls like mine on a regular basis) and told me I could hold off taking Hank in unless things seemed to get worse. We have been blessed...less than a week later, it's like it never happened. One disaster averted.
Thursday:
Jeff wakes up saying his stomach didn't feel very good, but went in to work not thinking much of it. The kids and I meet some friends for lunch at McDonald's. All is well until Tucker "gives back" his whole meal as we were finishing up lunch. I didn't think much of it (other than how disgusting it was) and chalked it up to him gagging on a large piece of PB&J Landry had so kindly shared with him (bless her heart, I talk to her about sharing, then tell her not to share her food with Tucker...so confusing!). (Side note: yes, we were eating lunch at McDonald's, as in the hamburger joint, but being the cheapskate that I am, I packed PB&Js and milk for us, and bought fries to go with it!!!) Shortly after I get home and get the kids down for naps, Jeff comes home, still not feeling well, and with the news that one of his co-workers and his daughter had come down with a stomach bug. Yikes! Sparing you the gory details, lets just say all 3 of my boys had the bug!
Friday:
Can't get the CD player in the car to work...realized it was probably because the kids had "fed" the CD player some tortilla chips. Again, we need to work on the right and wrong times to share our food. Also, I realize our dishwasher won't drain completely. We tried some DIY fix-it tips to no avail. Luckily, we got a home warranty when we purchased our house last June - we'll be putting that to use come Monday.
Saturday:
Jeff is working the weekend out at camp, so the kids and I drive out to join him for lunch. Again, all is well, until out of the blue Tucker decides to "give back" his entire lunch again. First of all, I am very perplexed...he seems to be past his stomach bug and feel fine...his gag reflex just seems overly sensitive??? Secondly, I had not yet restocked the diaper bag from the aforementioned episode at MacDonald's, so I had no change of clothes for him. He looked adorable in just his diaper, but we looked like such a little red-neck family...sorry Pine Cove.
But wait, it gets better!!! Jeff was so kind to walk the kids and I back to the mini-van, then heads back to get to work in the dining hall while I buckle the kids up and head home for naps. I buckle Tucker, then Landry, and Hank buckles himself. I shut the side door, then I notice a bee trying to get in the front door, so as soon as it vacates the premises, I slam the front door shut to keep the bee out. Then, as I walk around to my driver's door, I hear a noise that made my stomach sink...CLICK! Yes, the doors locked and I see my keys sitting in the drivers seat. I have replayed this in my head a million times already and still don't know what happened...maybe the kids were playing with the automatic lock button before they got in their seats, maybe Jeff or I turned the key the wrong way in the door before we took the keys out, causing the doors to lock, maybe the locks just malfunctioned...who knows? So, the positive...it's a nice cool day...the thermometer on the mini-van mirror said 58 degrees as we were driving out to camp. The negative...as I look into the van windows to see how the kids were reacting to the situation, I notice that there are two bees inside the van. I'm not panicked (yet), but my mind is definitely spinning. I try to get Hank and Landry to unbuckle themselves. Up until this moment, I was glad that they can't undo the bottom buckle by themselves. I tried to coach them through pushing the chest harness buckle down and the wriggling out through the top. They just looked at me like I was crazy. And they start to panic about the bees. Extra key? Nope. Keyless entry? Nope. Finally, I decided I needed Jeff. My phone is stuck in the van, too, so I have to run nearly 200 yards (out of the kids view) to get him. I tell the kids what I'm doing, and start running...hear them start screaming, then I start sprinting. Get Jeff, sprint back together. I couldn't have been gone much longer than a minute, but by the time I got back, all three kids are SCREAMING! Jeff goes to work trying to get something in through the window to push the automatic lock button. I continue to try to comfort the kids and coach them through getting out of their seat. Every time one of the bees moves anywhere near the two older kids, they lose it completely. One of the weekend guests at Pine Cove walks by and sees what's going on and tries to help Jeff for a couple of minutes. Then he goes to get another guest who is a fireman. In the meantime, I realize that the kids are starting to work up a sweat. The van is is the sun, so I know it has to be getting warm in there, not to mention all the body heat they are generating with their screaming and crying. At this point I am starting to get a little panicky and want my babies OUT even if it means breaking a window. Enter the fireman. He asks how long the kids have been in there, and suggests we go ahead and get them out. They wrap a hammer in a t-shirt and break the front passenger window. The automatic lock button won't work, so Jeff has to reach and in open the door with the handle (cutting his finger in the process). Automatic lock button still won't work, so Jeff reaches across to unlock the driver door. I crawl in (noticing that it did feel stuffy inside), get Hank out and hand him to the fireman. Then I get Landry out while Jeff is getting Tucker out. The fireman hands Hank to me and I just fall on the ground holding my oldest two as they sob...and the tears start to come, but I try to force them back. The fireman looks the kids over and said they were fine - they were probably just upset because they were scared of the bees. Jeff takes the kids and I in to the camp store to get the kids some water...at this point I'm sitting on the floor holding all three of my sweaty, teary-eyed, red-cheeked children and I lose it! It all hit me at once...heartbreak over the look of terror on my kids faces during the whole ordeal, relief that it was all over, knowing it will be a funny story someday, and a broken window to top it off! Once the kids recovered, we talked about it a little bit. Hank, in true tough-guy fashion said, "I was just screaming to scare the bees." (Yeah, right!) And Landry, with her best frowny face, said," I was screaming and screaming because I didn't like the buggies and I wanted you to drive." And sweet Tucker just put his head on my shoulder. I think he was the least traumatized of them all...he just cries when big bro and sis do. We're home now and the kids are all resting. I'm still a bit shaky from the adrenaline, and I'm laughing about it a little bit. I think it will get funnier as time goes on. Other than the window, we are no worse for the wear, and maybe even a little bit wiser.
Notice the antenna...it's bent from trying to force it through the window seal. Also, the windshield is cracked from our entry efforts. And lastly notice the passenger window...or the lack thereof.
the missing window
the t-shirt wrapped hammer
our glass-covered floor board
Hank assuring everyone that he is OK...out of the car and front teeth in tact!
So, yeah, that was my week in a nutshell. I'm glad I don't usually have much to blog about...weeks like this can be few and far between in my opinion. And don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to complain...I'm trying to count it all joy...
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
