The Storm Before the Calm

At least, I'm hoping that's what this is. This week has been crazy as I've been trying to prepare for Audrey's 5th birthday (and ensuing parties and school celebrations), the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program, and our class's Primary Sharing Time (that will be next week, but we're putting it together and practicing in class this week, so I've got to have it ready). Being the procrastinator that I'm convinced I must have been born to be, I left most of the preparations for the birthday party (which will be held tomorrow) until today. I had a master plan, though, and it was all going to get taken care of, no sweat. All was going great, I got up early and made Audrey's treats to take to school, got us all dressed and ready (my plan necessitated leaving for our errands immediately after dropping Audrey off at school, otherwise, there wouldn't be time to squeeze everything in!), and then, of course, today, of all days, my car keys are nowhere to be found. Adam has a rather nasty habit of wandering off with the keys, so I wasn't all that surprised that they weren't in the basket where they belong. However, once I checked all of his usual haunts (he often takes the keys to put in the ignition of his toy car, and occasionally takes them out to my car to "play"), and still no keys, I began to get concerned. We don't have a spare set of car keys, and I didn't have extra time to be wasting, looking for the keys. I seriously turned the house upside down looking for those keys. I called Jared in hysterics, wondering if he had seen them, and what I should do if I couldn't find them. Luckily, my wonderful sister Michelle came to the rescue and drove out to my house to take me on my errands. She met me on the way to walk Audrey to school, drove us the rest of the way and took me back home. Since there was only about an hour left of school by that point (yes, I searched for nearly TWO HOURS before I was willing to admit defeat!), we headed back home and she helped me get things back in order (the house was a disaster, and I only made it worse pulling everything apart looking for those keys). By the time we went to pick up Audrey at 11:30, the house had been restored to a general sort of order, and I was feeling much better about things. Shells was a doll and took us to the dollar store, Target, quick stop by Wendy's to grab lunch, Costco, and the library. With three cranky kids in tow. She is seriously my hero today! I tried to even the score by buying her lunch and loaning her my baby swing, bouncer, and a big tub of 0-3 month girl clothes, but I still think she comes out ahead! Irony of ironies, as she was pulling away from my house, I spotted my keys - outside in the flower bed. Adam strikes again!

I expect tomorrow (the birthday and the party, not to mention our Sacrament Meeting program practice) to be crazy, along with Sunday (Sacrament Meeting program and family birthday party), but after that, I'm thinking I deserve my calm! At least until Thanksgiving...