Our 'Fun' Day!

For the last 3 Saturdays, all I've done is housecleaning, and barked orders at the kids to clean their list of jobs. No fun- just boring old cleaning. (Howie gets to be fun- takes the girls to the movies, bowling, etc.) Anyway, yesterday, Howie was working, and I decided to declare it a "NO WORK DAY!" The girls and I were going to go shopping. We began, at 10 a.m., by getting our family pictures developed , so we could hang them on the wall when we got home. (Maybe this wasn't fun for the girls, but it creates change in our home, which is fun for me- and they did get to get out of the house, and I would treat them to lunch.) After picking which pictures we wanted, it was discovered we couldn't get them printed, because I had forgotten the copyright release form from the photographers. Dang! But, yet still determined to have a FUN day, we headed to Idaho Falls to exchange some boots we had for the older girls. (Mind you, I am either brave or stupid to venture out on my own, with three children, to the mall, on a Saturday!) We get to the mall, I unload the stroller, the boots, the diaperbag, and the kids- lock the doors and head inside. First stop- the bathroom. It is there that it dawns on me I don't have my purse. Where is my PURSE?! It dawns on me that I left it in the car, with my keys- and the doors are locked. So, I go to the Sear's Auto Center, ask for a wire hanger, explain that I locked my keys in the car, and head out, with my kids, the hanger, and a couple prayers in my heart. I had seen Howie do this a handful of times, so I figured I could do it, too. A few discouraging minutes later, a nice man came to my rescue- told me he'd work on the car, and I could take the kids and go back inside where it's warm. He worked on it for about an hour, and finally got it (after I got a few tips from Howie, on what the trick was.) The girls, meanwhile, were being so good, and were being entertained by the assortment of car air fresheners- dividing them up into 'boys' and 'girls' and then having a party with them.

I thanked him over and over again, and then hurried off to exchange the boots. Unfortunately, there were no boots the girls size to trade, so we came home with no boots. We get home at 4:30, Howie walks in the door at 5, and once again, all is right in the world. I doubt the day was that fun for any of us. But I am grateful that the kids were not whiny and impatient, and that there was a nice guy to help a girl out. And I'm grateful for a husband who holds us all together when we seem to be coming unglued from all angles.

I'm thinking I'll have to try another 'fun day' next Saturday, maybe something more simple, like going sledding or something.