White Flag

This morning I made the littles pancakes for breakfast and only two of the four actually ate them. Everyone got dressed and made beds while I made Camilla's lunch. We had a quick scripture and family prayer before waving the girl off to her bus. Hyrum jumped on the piano and practiced two of his songs for Daddy just before he left for work. He's been improving a lot over the last little while! Ollie cooed under the Christmas tree while he played and then I finished dressing the younger two for the day. 

Although it was cold we were in need of a few things from the store. I bundled the littles and we all put on our shoes. My phone battery was almost dead and I was going to leave it at home while we quickly ran our errands. Just as I was doing my last check through the house my phone rang. Mr. Stannix forgot his work bag at home and needed me to run it into the city. His laptop is kind of essential! Lucky for him we were all dressed and ready to go! 

The boys fought and bickered as they belted into their seats. My fingers were already chilled to the bone as I hopped into the front seat. I stuck the keys in the ignition, turned on the car, and nothing happened. The battery was dead for the second time this week. Ugh! I made a few phone calls to friends in the neighborhood but no body seemed to be home to boost me. I marched the boys back inside where it was warm and built up the courage to ask our neighbors for help! Turns out they had a handy battery charger that I could just plug into the wall and boost the van with. After a quick call to my dad to make sure I wasn't going to kill myself, It worked like a charm! 

Once we got into the city I didn't want to chance turning off my vehicle and losing the charge again. We arrived at Daddy's office building in good time but he was stuck in a meeting. I drove around the block countless times and then found an open parking place to wait. Daddy was happy to see us and apologized for throwing a wrench in my day.We kissed good-bye and then we were off!

I hit up a Honda dealership on the way home and asked them to take a look at my battery. I marched my cranky boys into the dealership for a bathroom break and then we waited in the waiting room where a sweet man from India wouldn't stop talking to us. I fumbled around and nursed the baby while praying Finley wouldn't run out the door. Thankfully they made quick work of the van and had a new battery installed within the hour! I looked at the invoice on the way out and under the notes section they put "customer waiting with children". I was grateful for the special treatment this time!

By the time we made it home it was mid-afternoon and there was no hope of doing any of the actual errands I had planned for the day. I looked at the horrible state of my house and threw up a white flag in surrender as my toddler affectionately called for me for the millionth time today. "Mommy-mum-mum-ma-mommy-MUM!" He's cute, but he's become quite feisty as of late.

There was nothing I could do about today's events, but I could control my attitude. I overlooked the mess, welcomed my girl home with cookies and milk, and put my feet up on the couch for a bit. What a day!