Large Families Need a Party Bus

We must really love our big van because every time we turn around there is something else we have to do for it.  Yesterday we spent most of the day just trying to get new tires on it.  Turns out, the ones we had on it weren't even designed for the weight of our van and so it explains why we constantly had to replace them.  This time we paid a lot more money to get really good tires.  While Charles was looking at the van my parents came over and visited for a bit.  My kids love their Nana and Papa.  Do I wish we had a bigger van? Yes, we desperately need one.  However, we are learning that in life you sometimes have to wait rather than rush into debt to get what you want.  We did that in the past and paid dearly for it.  Now, we are trying to do things the right way because we learned the hard way.  

Well, the girls' costumes were ordered for their dance recital coming up in November.  I'm super excited but nervous at the same time.  Before signing the girls up I asked the teacher if there would be any modern dancing in it.  I am only doing this for tap and ballet but I only wanted classical ballet.  We shall see.  The parents can't see what their kids are doing in class.  They are still learning the basics and how to be flexible.  Ivy has been working really hard and can do the splits in the air now. They are so cute.  My living room has turned into a gym room as they are always practicing.  Ivy asked me for about 3 years now if she could do ballet.  I wondered if she would actually like it once she started but so far she absolutely loves it and counts down the days to the next practice.  Ashley was easy to figure out because she was always fluttering around the house.

So much happened in the month of August!  It is a very, very busy month for us!  Cars breaking down, I become a mom to a preteen (Chaz), My kids are asked to be featured in photos for the science center, kids start school,  Ivy gets taken by ambulance to the burn ward, girls start ballet lessons, the kids learn how to make their own rockets, Ryan has a birthday at a fun trampoline place, I make a major change to switch the babies to cloth diapers. While boys are away camping the girls went bowling, the boys join band in school, and Kyle turns 9.  Wow!  That's a lot to happen in just one month but we that's why I love our family!  We have so many adventures together and don't like to be apart for very long.  I feel like we need our own party bus.  Ha ha.  I'm thinking about getting a bumper sticker that says something like "This is our party bus."

Finally Getting to be a Band Mom

Caleb and Ivy playing soldiers

Oh, today started out so rough I ended up in tears.  We finally got a large van fixed.  I'm so happy about it.  It cost $1,000 in repairs and although I choked on that (tomorrow another $500), I'm grateful to have it back.  On Sunday we went to go pick it up after church but we forgot that they only took cash at the mechanics shop.  Could we even pull out that much money from an ATM?  I was pretty sure we couldn't.  After pulling out some of it, our account locked up and I couldn't even use my card to buy a bottle of water. After several hours we finally called the fraud department and had the limit lifted temporarily.  Good grief.  I know they do that for a good reason but it stinks when you can't get your own money out when you need it.  

Monday morning I was excited to finally get to drive it again and take the kids to school.  As I back out of my garage I notice something wrong.   A tire was flat!  I had to transfer all the kids and the car seats to our smaller van and try to get them to the school they go to on Mondays.  Now they were gonna be late and missing their favorite class which is the chess class.  Finally we get going and the van is heating up.  Argh!  I didn't want to stop but I didn't want to kill the van.  My husband calls and says work is slow and he's coming home.  At least then we could get a tire and we did after we dropped the kids off.  Before saying goodbye to the kids I promised them that I'd rent their bells kit that they needed for band.  I also told them I would get it before they had band at the end of the day.  Well, that didn't work out because it took so long running errands and getting things fixed.  We finally get all three boys their bells kit just in time for band to let out and go home.  No problem.  I can read music since I played in band for several years in school. You know what hurt though?  How much it costs to rent three separate bell kits.  OUCH!  Oh, for the love of your kids.  In three months the band teacher will start letting them learn on snares and I can return the bell kits.

Since it was a rough day Charles took us out to have fun.  It was much needed but the boys were excited to get home and practice on their instruments.  They immediately set up their bells and we got working on the notes and what they mean.  Quarter notes, half notes, whole notes and rests.  All three understood it quickly and after only one hour they could play a whole page of music in their books and kept time really well. Wow!  That makes a band mom proud.  Charles and I both grew up in band so this is our passion.  I really want the kids to learn an instrument that they can use later in life.  I learned flute and although it was a beautiful instrument, I wasn't able to use it for ministry since bands don't exactly call for flutes very often.  Heh heh....When I was younger and playing flute, I did expand my horizons and eventually learn the alto sax, tenor sax and added piccolo.  It was a lot of fun.

Ivy took this picture of her view from the couch

Finally I am home and although the house looks like a tornado ripped through it, I'm tired and ready to have a meeting with my pillow.  Sigh... :D

P.S.  Diane, thank you so much for following my blog. My dad let me know and I'm so happy you are doing well.  Love you! 

Meeting Moms in Parking Lots...In Your PJ's

So my big van is finally getting fixed!  I mean, the whole works.  New transmission, new power windows, new rims, paint job possibly, and darker tint.  I love my van but it's just been sitting there while we drive a smaller one.  We've been squished and it's not fun.  Have you tried to squish in with an Aspergers kid? Everyone can be in tears within 10 minutes.

I needed to go to Target today since my kids and husband are going on the father-son camping trip tomorrow with our church.  Well, as we were unloading I noticed another big van pull up.  This one was a 12 passenger or something like that.  A mom of seven came out and I don't know about you but when I find another large family mama, I want to say hello!!!  Then, across from me a mom of 10 is getting into her van.  Wow!  This almost never happens.  I actually felt normal for once.  The mom of seven gave me her email and to top it off she homeschools.  I loooooove to learn from others and how they run their home.  The problem was that since I had only intended to run in and out of Target quickly, I wasn't dressed so great. Next time I get the fabulous idea that it won't matter to wear pajama shorts going somewhere, I'll just remember this.  You might meet another mama who you might want to impress just a tad.  Pajama pants won't get the reaction you want. Heh heh.

I took Caleb and Ashley in for a regular check up and I was curious as to how Juliet was doing with her weight.  I've had people point out how little she is and some say they were worried.  I knew she was perfectly healthy but this way I can say "doctor said she's perfectly healthy."  She's three months and 11 lbs.  She's following the curve perfectly but she is long for her age.  Caleb is healthy to but the one thing that was sad is that his binky shaped how his teeth grew in.  Oh mannnn, makes me sad.  At least they are not permanent teeth.  That thing is just going in the trash.  She said it's not a problem for moms to use binkies for naps or night time but should otherwise keep them away.

It's hard for me to want to take them in because I'm used to getting pressure about vaccinations.  She told me I need to get them vaccinated for pertussis because it's going around.  I asked her if it's going around amongst the unvaccinated kids.  Do you know what she said?  Nope, it's going around amongst the vaccinated kids.  Yeeeeah, I think I'll stay away from that one.  I smiled and politely turned that one down.

My 33rd Birthday and Favorite Hangouts

Michele helping change the tire

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday!  It started out with a really, really late breakfast at Denny's (since I slept in) and then I went out with my friend for the night.  Well, on the way to the mall I got a flat.  We were on the freeway and it was just Juliet, Michele, and I.  It was extremely hot and I had the baby in the car.  I didn't even know if we had a spare but thankfully we did.  Phew!  This is the second time Michele was with me when I got a flat and we had to figure out how to change a tire together.  LOL.  It's probably a good experience for us so I'm not stuck when I'm alone.  We finally headed off with black hands and nothing to clean them with till we got to the mall.  Now I know why mechanics use special soap because we couldn't completely get the black off. Michele and I were super embarrassed when we had to hand a card to the cashier and our hands were dirty looking.  Ha ha.  We tried scrubbing and scrubbing.

By the wayyyy!  Check out this awesome site I found where you can get free treats on your birthday!  http://www.freebirthdaytreats.com/

Juliet

Yesterday when we were out for breakfast with the kids, I was soooo proud of them.  It's not easy to have 7 kids and have peace and quiet all the time.  However, they were super respectful to the server and talked quietly and stayed in their seats.  All the hard work of training becomes more noticeable when we go out like that in public.  That's not to say it's always perfect of course.  It's just when Charles and I weren't taking our family out very much, there was not a lot of training moments.  Now that we are getting out more, it gives us more opportunities to train them on behavior in public.  I've had my share of embarrassing moments!

Charles, Chaz, and Ryan at IKEA

We love living nearby an IKEA and it's even cooler that they started doing Kids Eat Free every Tuesday!  It's a HUGE store that is two story and you get TONS of exercise just walking half of it.  You can get lost really easy but since we've been there so many times we can find our way out. We still haven't learned all the shortcuts though.  They have a restaurant on the second floor and it's so cheap to eat there.  Well, Tuesday we took our family there and all the kids ate free and Charles and I each got dinner for only $3.99 each.  Our favorite is the meatball plate with the sides.  Seriously, that is so cheap.  Every time I go I get a coffee there but I found out that since I signed up for their card (those cards you take to the store and it gets you money off) I get a free coffee every time I go.  SWEET!  I get coffee every time I go anyway!  Seriously, it cost us $10 to eat there for our family of 9.  You can't beat that.  I have a feeling we'll be eating there for dinner at least twice a month now.  They also have a kid check in area and our kids love it.  The kids that are too young or two old to go in the fun kid watch get an ice cream cone.  IKEA is one of our favorite hangouts.

The Day Before Easter Fun and Van Troubles

Charles showing Caleb an egg

Well, we decided to get our minivan up and running again even though we don't fit in it too well.  My husband's family wanted us to come and visit the day before Easter.  We were unsure of it because we didn't know how well our minivan was doing since we hadn't driven it in awhile.  We decided to spruce it up a bit and take it for a drive. Here are some pics of the fun day of egg hunting.

Ivy and Ashley egg hunting

Ashley found an egg!

Ivy looking for eggs

Caleb excited!

Kyle making a run for the eggs!

Ryan with Chaz in the background

Ivy watching her cousin take some dives

View of family hanging out by the pool

Caleb getting a kiss from his cousin

Ashley taking her shoes off to put her feet in the water

Ashley and Ivy (4 and 6 yrs old)

Charles holding Caleb while I take photos

It was such a good day and fun fellowship with each other.  We stayed for several hours.  I brought about 100 eggs for the kids to hunt and Melanie (my husband's sister) brought some also.  We let the toddlers out first, then Ivy and Ashley, then the older ones.  We wanted it to be fair but we didn't realize how fast the girls would be.  They got double of what the boys got so we'll remember that for next year!  :D  It's always so relaxing to visit and everyone gets along really well.  Nice, huh?  We left around 8pm and went looking for some church shoes for baby Caleb in to wear for Easter Sunday service.  Once we headed home we were tired and happy from the day.  While on the freeway the power went out on the vehicle and we had to quickly get over.  We managed to pull off into a gas station.  We had half a tank of gas but being the van had sat for a bit we decided to add some fuel injection cleaner and some newer gas.  We were able to start the van after a bit and got back on the road.  This time we stayed off the freeway.  We lasted a few more miles and the same thing happened.  We could have gotten much farther but was stuck in bad traffic from the baseball game being let out.  It was downtown so it's was a beautiful area but also attracts a lot of homeless people.  With 6 kids in the van and a pregnant mommy we didn't want to attract much attention that we were broke down.  One guy walked by and offered us a ride in his spaceship.  We kindly turned that one down.  A half hour ride was turning into a 4 hour one and we sat there just hoping the van would start again.  Sigh.  Finally a tow truck came to the rescue and my dad got us home around midnight.  We still had to get up early in the morning for church but the kids were all worked up from all the commotion.  Finally we settled down to sleep around 1am and the morning came very quickly.  I'm tired of van troubles and it was a bit discouraging.  

Chaz and Ryan wrestling while we were stuck on side of the road

Somehow we made the best of it taking goofy pictures while waiting in the van. LOL.  Lots of wrestling, singing, and goofing off.  

How to Train for Less Sleep with Newborn

Yesterday I took Kyle and Ivy in to see if they needed glasses.  After waiting in the waiting area for an hour (whyyyyy?) they finally get called back.  Turns out they both need glasses.  Both have a hard time seeing their schoolwork in front of them.  However, Ivy's is much worse and she also has stigmatism.  What???  I asked, "are you serious?  Do you think that's why she's struggled so much focusing on her schoolwork?"  She said a BIG yes.  Well, Ivy went a full year of kindergarten not learning much of anything.  She just seemed to be in lala land most of the time.  She'll get her glasses next week and I'm SO CURIOUS to see if it's gonna help her to concentrate.  I really, really hope that has been the issue all this time.  

How to train for less sleep with newborn baby? Here is how.  I could hardly function most of yesterday because I haven't been sleeping well.  The night before I could sense the dog wanted to be let out to potty which means I might as well check on the kids.  I like to see if anyone looks cold, put them back in bed if they rolled off, get myself a drink, take those vitamins I forgot to take, use the restroom, let the dog back in, notice he has no water in his bowl, remember to turn down phone so it doesn't wake up kids in the morning, pick up a couple of things off the counter and put away on my way back to bed, check that the doors are all locked, remember that I forgot to transfer clothes from washer to drier before I laid down earlier, take some TUMS because of heartburn or acid is killing me, then finally make my way back to the bed.  By that time it'll take me some time to fall back asleep.  Then, I woke up every half hour because I was worried I wouldn't hear the alarm clock for the appointment the kids had. I sleep right through alarms or sometimes they don't go off.  Argh!  My sleeping is just crazy and this routine can happen at least a few times in one night.  Although, on a positive note, it is training for having a newborn wake up all night.  (Grin)  Okay, then it's worth it.

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The good news is my friend and I signed up for the homeschooling convention that's happening in the summer!  WHEW!  We are so excited and can't wait.  My favorite people of all time will be there.  The Boyers have 14 children and were some of the first to homeschool their kids in their area.  Talk about pioneers of homeschooling! They didn't have all the whistles and bells you can buy now.  I really admire what they have done and how they've stayed true to their faith, family, and raising their kids up in Christ. They didn't just talk about Godly values, they lived it.  Well, they are coming to the convention this summer and they are the first people I'm gonna look for.  I read this book back when I had maybe 3 kids.  They definitely were a big influence on helping to change our thinking about children and having a large family.  I read about this family before I knew anything about the Duggars.

Ashley playing ballerina

Here spring break is coming and my van is out of commission.  Whyyy?  My husband doesn't work all week and we've come up with all kinds of great ideas.  Swim at Nana's heated pool?  Visit the zoo and have a picnic since we have a membership?  Go to the mall during the day while all the teens at home are all sleeping in?  Visit a really neat museum?  Go the airstrip to watch planes land and take off?  Go to Christian skate night at the nearby skating rink?  We have tons of fun ideas.  Wellll, I guess we'll have to get creative and hang around at home.  Phooey.  :)

Missing Our Family Van & Adventures

at a museum with kids a couple of years ago

Today my kids are normally at a school but since our family van is still not working we are home.  However, once my husband comes home from work this evening I'll be taking 3 of the kids in his car to the Children's Museum downtown since it's a free night.  :D  We have the money for a transmission but there is not one available yet to buy and my father-in-law is waiting for one to come up.  He's amazing at fixing cars and finding good deals.  Soooo, there sits our big van just lonely and sad.  I like to get out a lot with the kids so I miss it really bad too.  Not driving it though has at least saved me almost $200 in gas.  If it was working we would all be going to the event tonight.  Charles is bummed when we have to split up like this and go to stuff separately.  Me too!  He is such a fun daddy.

I have more work that I can possibly even get done in one day but it makes me happy!  I experience a long, boring weekend last time with very little to do and it was poo-pooey.  I don't want to go through that again.  Then again, if our van had been working we would have just gotten out together.  

I thought the morning sickness was beginning to subside but this morning it gave me a reminder that it's still there and was only taking a break.  The kids are so used to it they've stopped talking about it.  I'll hear them say "baby is making mom sick again."  My kids have been such light sleepers lately because of Caleb.  He's in this habit of waking up in the middle of the night, waking up all his brothers, and trying to wander the house.  Last night was tough because he woke up four kids and all the lights were on in the house.  He treats them like his personal servants and gets them to get him a drink or anything else he wants.  He's even tells them to turn on or turn off the fan. He's only two, that little stinker.  Last night I got up to get him settled back down and the other kids back in bed.  Then I made rounds to turn all the lights back off.  My concern I'm having is him escaping the house in the middle of the night.  He's learned how to unlock everything and my worst fear is him opening doors while we are all asleep.  We are gonna go buy those chains locks to put at the top of all the doors to prevent that from happening.  The same thing happened to my friend. Her boy would escape in the middle of the night while they are totally passed out and wouldn't even know it. Well, he did it a couple more times and even after they bought those locks.  The last time he did it the cops found the boy playing naked in a fountain a mile away.  Crazy, huh?  They finally got an alarm that would go off if the door was opened.

Sunday School Dilemma and Homeschool Challenges

Another Sunday morning and I can't go to church.  Since our van broke down we have been having to take turns in our car.  He usually takes four or I take four of the kids.  Also, Caleb got a bug and his nose just won't clear up so he can't go to nursery.  Nothing major but enough to keep him out of the baby nursery.  The nursery has strict rules but for very good reasons.  I wouldn't want to put my healthy baby in and they constantly get sick from other babies.  Sooo, here I am on Sunday morning with my 3 little ones at home.  

Another complication I have is with Ivy.  Some might remember but back when Ivy was in Kindergarten in a brick and mortar school she wasn't doing well.  However, the teacher didn't enlighten me till February, six months after school started, that Ivy had learned diddly squat and has day dreamed most of the time.  Why, oh, why am I being told so late in the year?  I pulled her as soon as I was shown this and began to homeschool her.  Because we had to start 6 months behind she is that far behind everyone else her age.  That teacher was actually let go at that school.  Anyway, when July came around all the kids at church were put up to the next level in Sunday School without my knowledge so I had no warning.  I figured it wasn't a big deal that Ivy is in a first grade class being that she is only six months behind in her schooling than her classmates.  It's been seven months now and they are telling me they want to switch Ivy back to the Kindergarten Sunday school class since she can't read yet.  What?  Now?  She's made friends in this class, she's almost seven years old.  To go back into where it's five year olds is very embarrassing to her.  No matter how I feel they are going to do it and that's that.  So I have kept Ivy out since she is begging me not to have to go.  She is incredibly embarrassed about it.  I don't blame her so she is home with me today until we can all go to church together and then she'll be sitting with us in the adult's class.

I've already tried talking to the leader.  What do you think?  What would you do?  I asked why being in the first grade class is a problem and they said it's because they want each kid to be able to read one paragraph during the lessons.  I just started homeschooling Ivy for the first grade this past week so she will be learning to read soon.

Living a Life Without Clutter

We have a new tire on our car again so now we're not stuck!  By tomorrow we should have our van's tire replaced. Whew! Just in time for church and my kids going to school on Friday.  I don't mind being stuck in my lovely home so much.  Just simple errands and missing out on church is what bugs me the most.  I love my home and enjoy it just as much as when we first moved in but getting out is nice too.  :D

Oh my gosh. This is such a funny cartoon.

I was expressing to my mom of my frustrations of only having two computers for schooling the kids.  They have book work and online work so it's been tough sharing it between four kids, a blogging mommy, and a daddy who loves computers too.  Some days I'm not able to get on the computer till way later which is fine, but I have to check for reviews and adjustments sometimes.  Regardless, their homeschool comes absolutely first.  Well, my mom took one of our older laptops home with her to do some work on it.  It's a good laptop but just had some problems and would constantly disconnect from the internet.  I eventually gave up on it and put it away.  She fixed it up so now we'll have 3 working computers.  Yeehaw!  Thank yewwww!

My sister that just came back from South Africa for 6 years, her family is being stationed here in the states.  I'm glad that now she isn't so far and we can visit.  They are a super cute family and a joy to be around.  Jodee was the one that taught me how to declutter fast and if it wasn't for her I'd still be pulling my hair out right now.  I spent a couple of days with her at her house they were staying at temporarily.  It's pretty much emptied out because it's being sold.  Well, I loved it!  I love the feeling of just a quick and easy cleanup every day an so when I went back to my home after staying there, I went right to work.  I'm super grateful and have truly woken up each day with peace knowing I have more time for my kids and husband now that I've ever had before.  Now, I've had so many friends ask me how I did it so I'll just put it here.  I know this is so simple for some but all the other ways I tried just wasn't working. :D

1. Empty out one room completely as if you are moving except for major furniture you know is staying.  I moved everything into the living room.  

2. Get a bag or box labeled "Giveaway" and "Throwaway".  Then I put back what was obvious of what was going back into the room and I would put it back immediately.  As I was filling up the room with my favorites and for sure staying, I knew quickly when to stop because I loved how nice it looked.  I didn't want to reclutter it because the room looked so beautiful without all that stuff!  It made it sooo easy to throw all the rest out.

3.  At the end of the day take a break and go donate the stuff.  If you want to do a yard sale make sure to take the stuff OUT of the house completely.  I put everything onto our back patio.  

4.  Each day I did one room and I did not stop for 8 days.  I made sure each room was completely and totally done with all the messes cleaned up from it before starting the next room.  We ate very, very simple that week because I didn't need to be making bigger messes that would make me feel discouraged.  

5.  If you blog, blog your successes!  After my whole house was finished, since I didn't want to do a yard sale but my friend did, she came and picked up all the stuff off my patio.  

I hope this helps, my friends!  :D  I so wish I had known to declutter like this waaaaay long ago.  I did our household clothes as a whole separate project with washing everything and laying them all out to see what we'd keep.  I gave each boy a bin and only let the toys in there that fit.  They are getting older so they really wanted their own bins of their belongs rather than all mixed in like when they were little. They each have their names on their bins.  The girls were easier so they share one bin and only the toys that fit in there stay.  They each kept only 2 stuffed animals.  :)  If you do go shopping for a new clothing item, make sure to go home and throw that many out so the clutter doesn't build back up again.  :D

I Think Life is Playing a Prank On Me

What an odd last week it was and then how it spilled into the weekend.  There was good and bad mixed in.  When you work for a school district, you don't get paid when the school is on break.  As least not everyone does.  Since we knew a month was coming where there'd be no paychecks we prepared in advance.  We paid double on our bills and even set money aside for things that might come up.  Well, my husband's car died last week so there went our savings to get the expensive part we needed.  Thankfully, his father is a mechanic (a really good one at that) and fixed the car.  Then, as soon as it was fixed, the tread fell off our van tire while I was driving on the freeway.  So we had to park that.  Luckily, he still had his work car to take back and forth. This weekend him and I took turns going to church since we all can't fit in the car.  He rode the car with 4 kids to church in the morning and I took 4 to the night time service.  I grabbed an extra kid from a friend to take home with us and while heading home I got a flat.  I was able to pull into a nice hotel and park it.  We went inside with 5 kiddos and I made them quietly sit in the nice seats while I made a phone call home.  My husband couldn't come get me because we couldn't drive the van so I had to call a friend. She rescued me and took me home but now our dilemma was figuring out how Charles was gonna get to work.  My mom calls about an hour later asking where I was.  A couple was gonna treat me to eat at a Mexican restaurant after I dropped the kids off but I never showed after church.  Darn!  Whyyyyy?  Of all times to get a flat.  I was gonna get out by myself with my mom and some friends.  She came by, had me take her home, and borrow her car so we can take it to get the new tires we need.  Hopefully tomorrow both of our vehicles will be fixed.  Sigh.  By the way, I got a flat in the car directly across the street from where I had to pull over the van last week. 

On to a more fun and encouraging topic.  Remember all that crazy decluttering thing I went through?  Well, I had really been wanting to focus on hospitality and spending more time with friends since having more time.  My work load has been so much lighter so I've been happy to have friends come visit more. At least I've been much more welcoming to it.  I'm just relaxing and wondering what I'm gonna do with myeasy Saturday when a friend called from out of town. She and the kids (Chaz and Ivy's best friends) wanted to come and visit.  Sure!  They dropped in and while our kids caught up, we got to visit for several hours.  I made some steaks and salad and we had dinner together too.  They headed back out of town around midnight or so.   It felt refreshing to feel so much more open to last minute visitors.  :D  Yay for a decluttered house and more time for family and friends!

When Life Happens, Sometimes You Have to Laugh

See the tread gone?

We've had some crazy car issues these past couple of week.  Only being able to drive the large van but not the little car.  So Charles has been having to take the van back and forth to work every day so my kids haven't been able to go to school on Fridays.  The day we got the car fixed, I went with Charles to drop him off at his car so I could take the kids home in the van.  My husband insisted I take the cell phone with me in case I break down for since the transmission is going out.  I was like, "Yeah, yeah okay."  Well, I was driving home and we all her "BAM, BAM, BAM!"  The kids screamed and I pulled off the freeway.  While pulling off the freeway I was baffled that although it sounded like a I got a flat tire, it didn't feel like it.  I got out and saw that the tread had come off the tire and the loud sound was the tread hitting the metal of the van and bending it.

The tread bent the metal up

What it should look like

Since my tire wasn't popped I just drove really slow home and parked it.  As I was getting ready to mop the floor a bit later I started sweeping and thinking about how ironic it was.  How is it the moment we get my husband's work car going that we can't drive the van?  As disappointing as it was, at least the car was fixed on the same day and he can still get to work.  I figured I'd take it as a blessing.  Then, as I was sweeping the floor, this happens....

My broom falls apart!

Okay, now that is funny!  Haha!  We now need a transmission, new tire on our van, and now a broom.  Oh well.  Life happens, right?  For now we will have to take turns going to church since we can't fit everyone in the car.  Well, you do the best you can.  :D