An Unexpected Family Day...

Saturday, April 16, turned out to be an "unexpected family day."  The day started out with us getting ready for the annual Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts.  The cars were ready, the boys were ready, and the track was set to go, but little did we know, Mother Nature had other plans.

At about 9:00 a.m. the power went out! Now, you never really know how much you rely on power until you have none.  At first, we were waiting patiently for it to come back on, but after a couple of hours we realized it was not going to.  The race was rescheduled and we had a day to do what?

We took a ride to look at the damage.  It was apparent that at no time in the future, would the power come back on.  So, do we go to Larry's moms and hang out there?  We decided to wait it out...

Now, it is hard to be creative with 3 busy boys when you have no power.  What would we do without TV?  Without our Wii?  It meant we actually had to interact with each other.  I had been wanting to decorate Easter cookies for a while, but we just have not had time.  The cookies were all made, they just needed some decorations.  We all sat down at the table and we began.  The boys and niece, Presley, really seemed to enjoy this.  Of course, the table and floor looked like a tornado by the time we were done, but it was sure fun.

The boys took out their train track and began to build an incredible track.  This had been put away for some time, so they enjoyed getting it back out.  I love to watch the boys be creative this way.  The track can be put together many different ways, and they really spent time doing this...but with everything, they got bored.

So we took another ride to check out the progress.  Hoping that we would be able to gage when the power would be back on just by us looking, which we quickly realized was not realistic.  Poles were still laying on the ground, wires flapping in the wind.  We went home thinking, "Oh, maybe 2 more hours."

It was getting chilly in the house and Kloe was hungry.  So, I took her into our room and nursed her under the covers.  I just love cuddling with my baby girl.  We both quickly fell asleep, snuggled together, nice and warm.

When I got up, I was running out of idea's.  I had to come up with something fun for these boys.  They were running wild, and very bored.  I said "lets play Pictionary."  We do not have the game, but we could improvise.  I got out Blake's easel, painting paper, and markers.  We split into 2 teams and we began our little showdown.  Kade, Larry and Colt were on one team; and me, Presley and Blake were the other team.  We made up our own rules and we began to play.

We had never laughed so hard.  Watching the boys come up with words and draw them was so much fun. I was so surprised by the amount of creativity they had.  We drew tire swings, Easter Eggs, Pinewood Derby Track, race cars, airplanes, and so much more.  About an hour into the game, the TV turned back on, the lights started to shine, and the phone began to ring.  Oh, the disappointment I felt.  Now, we had to go back to everyday life.  Our family time was over because dinner needed to be made and phone calls returned.  But we were having so much fun!

I realized right then and there, that the moments I treasure the most, are the ones that are unplanned.  The ones that are never expected.  We were supposed to spend our day at the school watching the boys race their cars, instead we spent our day together, as a family, doing things we would have not made time for.

We sat around the dinner table talking about our day.  We talked about how much fun we had running down to the spot were the poles went down, decorating cookies, making train tracks, and playing Pictionary together.  Why do we not do with more often?  Why does life always seem to take over and take  the main priorities away?  It is days like yesterday that you realize how fast life is going.  How in the not so distant future, our boys and Kloe will be grown and we wont have the chance to just stay home and be together.

One lesson I learned is, the next time the power goes out, I will be excited.  Excited for the events to come, and excited to spend time with my family.  When you have nothing but each other, why not embrace it?  Yesterday will go down in my books as one of my all time favorite days.  Thank you ice storm for making it possible!

The Ultimate Compliment

I just have to share this.  I am not one to talk about some things that happen to me, but this is one I have to share.  As a mother of 4...sometimes you loose yourself in the daily grind of craziness and you forget about yourself.  This is very much me.  My children come before me in any situation.  My daily attire is yoga pants and a tank top.  When it is cold, I will sport a zip up workout jacket.  So, yesterday when my Aunt Martha was in town for a short visit, we decided to have a "girls" day. So, I retired my yoga pants for day and decided to put on something more appealing.

Girls Day happens when my Aunt Martha and Aunt Mary come to town from D.C.  This is a tradition for the last couple of years.  There is one requirement...you have to be a girl to go.  Aunt Mary could not make the trip this time, so it was just Courtney, Aunt Martha and I.  We start out early in the day and we don't come home until late.  We do whatever we feel like doing.  We eat, laugh, shop and eat some more.  It really is a special day for all of us.

After lunch yesterday, Courtney was not feeling well, so Aunt Martha and I dropped her off at home to rest up and hopefully join us later.  Aunt Martha and I decided to head to the casino to try to win big (which we didn't, but don't tell Aunt Mary) Well, we walked in and Aunt Martha wanted to check  something out at the front of the main casino gaming room.  We walked around for a short time and then headed toward the back.  We decided to play some machines on the back wall.  As I was sitting there, I was approached by a man who was probably in his late 20's, nice looking, and sporting a small Mohawk :)  This was our conversation:

The Man: "Excuse me, I saw you walk in and I have to say,  you are absolutely adorable."

Me:   "Well, thank you"

The Man: "I have a fight later (he must have been a fighter appearing at the casino) and I was wondering if you would be available for a drink when it is over?"

Me:  "Oh, that is so sweet...but I am married"

He approaches me and shakes my hand...

The Man:  "Your husband is one lucky man"

and he walked away! I sat there speechless...Aunt Martha turned to me..."Did you just get hit on?" and I said "Big time!"

This is exactly what I needed to give me that little boost I have been needing.  I wonder what he would have thought if I told him that I was a mother of 4? And that I am a Stay at Home Mom, who normally does not look like this?   I wonder if he would have ran the other way?  Well, it does not matter because that is exactly what I am.  But it feels good to not always being defined that way!

Although, the compliment put me on a high for the day.  I came home and kissed my husband and told him what happened. He did not have much to say, although Aunt Martha said she could see some jealousy in his eyes.  Later that night, he wrapped his arms around me, and I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.....

p.s. I may retire the yoga pants more often....

Until next time my friends...

Shelby