Christmas and Keys

Christmas has come and gone and we're back to school and work. It was a wonderful happy whirlwind of jolly busy days and a few down days. Alexiss performed in her first concert and a kind neighbor who'd had a few under her belt saved Mark and I an awesome seat! Alexiss was trooper, even though it went past her bedtime.

Alexiss had only asked Santa for a pink pony and a Paw Patroller. Unfortunately the Paw Patroller was no where to be found, not even at the North Pole! He made up for it by hiding the Paw Patrol gang (stuffies) through out the house.

Christmas Eve we were all in a fluster, Maw in the kitchen and Alexiss in her dress. Awaiting the arrival of our close friends Matt and Cindi. We ate, we laughed....we had a great night and day. The turkey was amazing! Much better than the year I tried turkey breast in the crock pot and the plug had kinda come loose, mind you ham and eggs for Christmas was just as good, it's the company that makes it memorable.

So here we are, in 2016. Alexiss begins going to school for 3 full days instead of 2 and this Momma is going to take every other Friday off instead of going into the office. Yes, yes, I know today is Wednesday and I'm home updating the blog and that that goes against what I just said. You see, I managed to lock the keys in the truck this morning.....

So I kept warm in the entrance while calling to tell Mark what happened. By luck, he had taken the truck keys out of his pocket and put them on the hook at home! Now I just had to get home. One parent stayed and made sure I was okay, offering even after she left to help if I needed it and called. One friend had just left to go help out an aunt, one friend had gone into the office instead of working from home, and one friend said her husband was on his way to town anyway and had time to help. I figured I'd take today off instead and go into the office on Friday. More good luck, our door has a keypad, it held in for one more move before the batteries gave out. AND I got to see the most wonderful sunrise. Ahhh, life is good.

Today I locked the keys in the truck....Today was an amazing day!

Seriously! I kid you not. Today I felt like God was smiling directly at us. After a quiet morning cuddling and sharing excitement over new Leap Frog shows on Netflix we had to go grocery shopping. I chose Ali's shirt and I have the feeling that the only reason she agreed to wear something not pink was because it said she was on the nice list! She picked the rest of the outfit "to match" complete with rainbow pants, rainbow socks and....err... flip flops.

I'm at the tail end of a cold had a sinus headache but  off to the grocery store we go. The entire time my patience was wearing thin but I tried to keep a good attitude, by the time I hit the check out I was done. For some reason I asked for the Advil Sinus that I'd purchased and instead of getting it put in the bag, I put it in my pocket. I also let Ali get a Kinder Egg. Groceries loaded, then to load Ali in the other side of the truck, I locked the passenger side, closed the door and started walking to the driver side....when I realized the groceries, the keys and my purse were in the truck. Now I'm starting to be super thankful for the Advil in my pocket, but I had no liquid to take it with and I was hungry. Ah well, it's a sunny day. I thought I'd call a friend to go by the house and bring extra keys, but I had no idea where they were and the idea of having to explain the five messy places it could be left me no choice but to call Mark. He was more than happy to come rescue us, now to wait for Mark to leave work and make the almost hour commute. Ali and I wandered back to the front of Sobey's and while we perched on the ledge by the front window, deciding what to do, I noticed a razor blade (probably used to clean tape or something off the front window) beside me on the ledge. Amazingly I had the Advil box to dispose of it safely, my conscious wouldn't allow me to turn my head and leave it.

A little background from yesterday. After preschool and playing in the playground it was time to head back to the truck. Instead of stopping and looking for cars Ali put her head down and slowly walked out onto the cross walk. When I asked her to stop, she kept slowly shuffling her feet. There were no cars, it's a small town but what if... so I hauled her back to the sidewalk via her coat and that's when the fight started. My heart was in my throat, no harm.. this time, but what about next time? How can I start trusting her and start to relax a bit instead of always hovering? She cried on the way home. I had the idea to use an example of a salamander we'd inspected squashed on the road a few weeks ago. I told her I was very upset and scared, that I didn't want to see her squished and that I would cry and cry. Back to today... we walked around the Sobey's building and as Ali held my hand, she repeated yesterday's event back to me. When I asked her what I would do after I cried she said "Get a new Alexiss". I told her there was no other Alexiss like her I wanted her, my Alexiss, that she was special and a one and only. I think she got it and I was thankful for the moment.

We finished our walk and ended up at the front of Sobey's again. Let me tell ya, there's nothing like locking your keys in the car to stop and take the time to play. The Kinder egg had a little monkey it in, Ali had a little dolly in her pocket and we found a ladybug! Time passed fast and I thanked God many times for the day with Alexiss. Locking the keys in the truck was a gift.

Dolly and Monkey hanging out in Ali's flip flop

Hello ladybug

Ladybug meet Monkey. Ladybug enjoyed walking all over Monkey.

Dolly and Monkey all tucked into the flip flop "bed" as Ali reads them a story (the pamphlet inside the Kinder Egg)

Ali was getting bored but being a good sport when Daddy finally showed up to save us!

Today was a blessing.