One of "Those" Days!

Today really started last night when Chad was hooking up the trailer to his truck in anticipation of making a trip to Rexburg to buy some hay. When he went out this morning, he realized he'd locked his keys in the truck. No big deal...I have a key to his truck. The problem was that he'd left the key turned in the ignition and the battery was DEAD.

I had no clue that there was a problem until Daniel mentioned something about Daddy having a hard time getting the van out with the truck in the way. I threw on some pants and went out to help. By that time, he'd unhooked the trailer, put it in the garage instead of the van and had the van up to the truck as close as possible (there is a fence in the way). We got the truck started and headed back inside to finish getting the kids ready for the day.

I changed back into my pjs and finished getting the kids out the door. Chad had already said good-bye and had been gone for at least 5 minutes when I looked out the window to check on the kids (waiting for the bus). There was Chad again, trying to tow the truck into a good spot so that he could get the van up to it. The engine hadn't run long enough and the battery was still dead. So while the bus is pulling up to get the kids, we are straining to push the truck. We were no match for it, but were able to get the van closer (barely).

Once he was on his way, Chad had no more trouble. But he was late and couldn't stop at the bank to get the money for the hay. So I took Joseph and Sarah with me and pulled out what he needed. The plan was to be waiting for the afternoon bus to immediately take the boys and the money to meet Chad at work so he could get to Rexburg on time.

WELL, the school called just as the final bell was ringing to say that Leah didn't feel well and thought she might throw up. Did I want to come and get her or just have her come home on the bus? I couldn't load up the kids that fast, and how many times have we heard a child say they thought they were going to throw up and never do it? Besides, Sarah was constipated and I had just given her a suppository that I was waiting on.

When the bus was late (and Sarah still had not pooped), I wondered if Leah had thrown up. It finally arrived and Leah got off with a red and tear-stained face. Yes...she had thrown up...twice. The bus was late getting to the middle school because of it. I'm very sorry for her having to get sick publicly and to have the bus driver get that nice present, but I'm grateful it happened on the bus and not in my van! They can just hose down the inside of the bus!

So she and Rebekah stayed home while I drove the boys to meet Chad. Joseph and Sarah came along for the ride. :) Everything was nice and calm and Leah only threw up once. It took Chad a while to get home because he was over-loaded with over a ton of hay and was sticking to back roads. (He fell off the half-loaded truck once while he was loading it and is still finding places that are sore.)

When he got home, I went out to help him unload. We got the trailer backed up and unloaded and Chad pulled out to park the trailer so we could unload the truck bed. Remember that we recently got a new drain field? That left us with loose dirt. Normally, this time of January would give us frozen ground. But because of the warmer weather, we have MUD. And the truck found a really soft spot, burying the rear driver tire up past the bumper. It was still loaded.

That began the job of unloading the truck on the other side of the pasture from where we wanted it. Meanwhile, we were fighting off two very hungry calves. Once the truck was unloaded and a bit of digging was accomplished, Chad was able to free the truck. That began the job of REloading the truck to drive around the soft mud to get the hay bales where we needed them. It took 3 trips.

At one point, Chad was chasing after the troublesome cows and stepped (fell) right into the hole the tire had been in. He was in mud up to his knee. Maybe it sounds mean, but I laughed so hard I almost fell out of the back of the truck! When a cow fell in the same hole and also struggled to get out, I thought the show was well worth my money. :)

We finally got the hay moved and were driving the truck out of the pasture, so I walked ahead to open the gate. I stepped right into a different mud hole up to the top of my chore boot! I had to pull my foot out and have Chad pull out my boot. Ah...more laughing. And now my foot was cold and muddy. We had to move the trailer by hand and get it out of the pasture.

The best part? That isn't even half of the hay that Chad paid for. He has to go back! It will take two more trips. We are sad farmers, but we laughed a lot. Our coats went right into the washer, including Leah's coat with throw-up on it. The pants and socks still need to be laundered. Chad's shoe came in filled with water because he's sprayed them off. His sock was dripping mud. We both have sore muscles and new bruises.

BUT, I was able to accomplish something during a quiet moment this afternoon. I made this menu chart for our dinners. We chose some of our favorite meals then I divided them into categories and color coded them. We'll pick from our tried and true favorites and add a new recipe every once in a while. Knowing what I'm going to make for dinner has really helped this week!

We expect tomorrow to be boring after the day we had! How was your day?