Valentine's Day...Part II

This is a long one, but it is a good story!

It is Valentine's Day! Today has been absolutely hilarious and crazy and it is only 3:00! I have to start last night though, to give you the whole picture. Last night there was a BLIZZARD! A huge one and the freeway was gridlocked for hours, kids were stranded at schools and had to spend the night there, it was nuts. Needless to say we ended up canceling Book Club, which was fine with me, that just meant more scones for me and my family! Matt is almost always the one to put the older kids to bed, (bless him!) but he was exhausted last night because Derek was having a really hard time sleeping (did I mention that he also gets up with the older kids at night? He is awesome.) So Matt was exhausted and I thought, hey, I will be an awesome wife tonight and do everything! So I gave Matt the night off and I proceeded to put the kids to bed and we both ended up getting to bed at a really decent time. The first time Derek woke up, I went up and put his covers back on. The next few times he woke up, Matt took over because Austin was fussing too and I took care of him. Poor Derek coughed all night long and couldn't sleep. He finally ended up in our bed around 4am and got to sleep and then just before 6 Austin woke up to eat, but I didn't want him to wake up Matt and Derek so I took him out to the Family Room where we both fell asleep for another hour or so. Needless to say we all woke up a little tired and cranky. (Okay, only I was cranky. Matt is almost always cheerful.) We got all ready for the day because Derek and Austin had doc appointments this morning. (Well-baby checks, but since they were sick too, it was just killing two birds with one stone. Or four birds with two stones. Wait....never mind.) As we were getting ready to go, the receptionist calls to say that all appointments are pushed back two hours because of weather issues. Okay, no biggie. We just had a nice regular morning, nothing traumatic. We get to the doctor and the kids were pretty good until we go the exam room. Derek had seen suckers at the front desk and kept opening the door of the exam room trying to get out and then slamming it shut. Zack started spinning on the doctor's stool and fell off and whacked his head on the baseboards. The doctor walked in as we were on our 4 round of "Five Little Ducks." The kids were great after that, they are getting so big. Although the doc did say that Austin has an ear infection. They got their shots, they got their suckers and off we went. As I was pulling out of the parking lot I decided to swing by the grocery store (which is right next to the doc office). Matt usually brings take-out home on Valentine's but his new office is no where near any resturants so I thought I would make a nice little romantic dinner for five. I wanted to pick up some steak and stuff to make these Raspberry Slushies that Matt loves. This is where the exciting stuff comes in. The parking lot was a mess and I had to practically park in a snow bank. I usually try and park as close to the cart area as possible to I minimize the time I have to wrangle all three children through the parking lot. Today, however, there were no spaces to be had. Apparently all the wives in Lehi were opting to cook dinner at home instead of braving Valentine's Day in a Happy Valley resturaunt. I had to park soooo far away from the store and the cart parking area. I figure we will just hurry. I get Derek out first, Zack follows him and I walk both kids around to the other side of the car to get Austin. As I am pulling out Austin's carrier, Derek breaks free and starts heading into the parking lot. I slam the car door and dive after Derek before he gets hit and grab his hand. Zack is walking just behind us so we are good. I get the carrier all arranged on my hip and Derek takes off running. I run after him, yelling for him to get back to me. When I finally grab his hand (I had been pretty much oblivious to everything but catching up with him) I realized that I am ANKLE DEEP in ICE WATER AND SLUSH. And of course since it is Valentine's Day I had gotten dressed all cute, hair and makeup done just so, and snow boots would not have gone with my outfit so I was wearing adorable, but impractical ballet flats. With no socks, of course. Luckily, the boys were wearing snow boots so they were fine. My feet were completely submerged. I waded out, freezing, with my pant legs drenched and headed into the store. I emptied my shoes, rolled up my pant legs and got shopping. I only had to get two or three things so we were pretty fast. I decided to take no chances on the return trip so, as we left the store I threw a freaking out Derek over my shoulder and started pushing my cart through the snow as to avoid the slush and ice water. There was a really narrow path of non slushy area and I was following another mom with her cart. Then of course, her cart gets stuck in the snow and she decides to just leave it there. Awesome. The only options are: A. abandon my children and cart as I push her cart out of the way and B. back through the slush and ice water. Obviously I chose B. (By the way if you have never tried pushing a grocery cart through the snow with one hand and a screaming toddler in the other, you should try it, it is a work out!) By the time I got back to my car, my shoes were toast. We got all loaded in the car, get back home, luckily home was only two miles away. As I pull into the driveway I realize that I forgot to return the movie from RedBox. I had meant to return it the night before, but due to the aforementioned BLIZZARD, I did not. So I left the kids in the car, ran back into the house, chucked my shoes, grabbed the movie and put on Matt's snow boots. (Which are warm and cozy and look like lumber-jack boots.) I hop back in the car, drive back to exactly where I had just been and head for McDonald's. I park the car, right next the RedBox, since there is no way I am unloading all the kids just to return a movie (that is not worth $1!) I thought I could jump out of the car and return the movie, no big deal. Too bad for me there was a line of 5 or 6 people. Then me. In my cute Valentine's outfit, hair fixed, makeup all done, and lumber-jack boots. Did I mention that I still had my jeans rolled to my knees? That was me in all my glory! I couldn't help laughing at myself. We made it home in one piece. Thank goodness. Bummer about the shoes. But all in all, this was a pretty normal day for the Sorensen household! And Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. A little side note: I have the best husband ever, I love you!!