Oh My...What a Weekend!

Oh My! That's what I have to say about our weekend! It was chalked full of highs and lows! I'll start with Friday night...Rob and I went up to watch TV and visit in our room while a few bigs stayed downstairs to watch a movie...no big deal. I get up around 4:00 a.m. to let the dog out and find our freezer (the small one, on the frig) wide open! Our second to the oldest daughter left it open... ALL NIGHT! What a mess! All the food in there was ruined...and I was MAD! So, we cleaned it all up, talked with her...end of story. We get all the kids around the table as Daddy had a big surprise planned for the family! He drew pictures for clues and the kids got to guess what we were going to go do! We were going to go ride the "Santa Express"....in the theme of the "Polar Express"....we went on an hour train ride! The kids got tickets, free hot cocoa and cookies, a gift...it was AWESOME! We took them to lunch at McDonald's play place...life was good! Especially since we got a major discount on the tickets!! The kids ate candy canes and sang Christmas carols all the way home :0) Then the "REAL" fun begins! We walk in to find our frig was completely broken! It was not working at all! We called the repair man, a trusted friend, and he said it would cost at least $500 to fix it, and since it was old anyway, Rob decided to buy a new one. The decision came after hours of fretting, struggling to try to fix the old one, getting all the food we could put other places...clearing out an overstuffed closet to get to the back of the old frig...not fun...at..all!!! So, $900 later...we had a good and long talk about responsibility with the kids! The big ones were wide eyed and understood what had happened...while the Little's were just jazzed about getting a new frig. We go to bed. We wake up to a hill covered in ice! I teach Sunday School, so we were going to church...icy roads or not...we get ready and go...church was OK...not major issues except one little had a big sneeze "blow out" and I had no tissues with me! YUCK! But it was OK! After church we have a fellowship time of coffee and a snack...great...I say to my crew that it was time to go to Sunday School...3 of them take of RUNNING out of the gym and into the parking lot! So, off we go for a group time out! Then the actual teaching of Sunday School was AMAZING! I LOVE my class...it is such a blessing! But where was my husband?? After class he came to me and said that someone gave us a substantial amount of money to buy a new stove....what?? What a blessing...God is so good! The next second he was in the church office talking with a heartbroken person....then went to pick up another one of our kids from their class...and went to hug these two twin girls...we LOVE them so much...but sadly, most people see these kids (there are 4 kids all together in this sibling group) as bad kids....but their life is so sad...anyway, he scoops them up in his strong arms for hugs and kisses, and they melt into tears. How sad. They were having a bad day...there life is one of the saddest stories ever. Rob was crushed. Like so crushed he couldn't breathe....near tears himself...CRUSHED. So, we leave...we were supposed to go pick up the little girl we babysit for a sleepover and a Christmas party with grandma & grandpa...we couldn't get there due to the icy roads...we tried and tried to get there...but were slipping and sliding all over the place!! We couldn't pick her up. We went home had the party...it was fun. I finally got to talk to her mom and found out she sat all afternoon in her pretty little penguin dress and pigtails...she was sad...we were sad. Long story short...we ended up getting her later in the afternoon...it was all good...lots of ups and downs...God is good...ALL THE TIME. This weekend gave us lots to do, think about, and pray about!!