My Hallmark Moment....GONE

I had yesterday all pictured. It was Landon's 11th birthday and my visions of a day chocked full of Hallmark moments, quickly came to a screeching halt. I usually start out the birthday with a breakfast celebration for each kid as I sit and talk about the excitement of the day. That is complete with a birthday plate, napkin and candle. We usually have a family dinner and dessert that night, which is after dad's creative scavenger hunt for a present.

Yesterday looked a little more "eventful" than I had imagined. Ridley was out of town speaking, so the morning started with me taking Harrison to school while Landon was at home by herself getting dressed. That in itself can be scary. When I whipped back in the driveway she greeted me with what we call in my house, a hoochie shirt. I smiled and said, "Yes, you are eleven today, but I need your shirt neckline to go up each year...not down." I slapped two Eggo waffles on a plate and tried to be decorative with my syrup. I followed with a quick "Happy Birthday" and a kiss as I darted off to get ready for my 8:30 appointment. Landon walked in the bathroom and informed me that she really would like to have lots of curls for her special day. Ok, so I pulled that off to later find that a boy at school told her she didn't need to curl her hair on her birthday just to look like the ugly music teacher. That added to my To Do List. #300....find that boy and give him the momma scare.

Throughout the day of real estate appointments and last minute birthday errands. I managed to forget my To Do List and ended up circling around the mall area several times trying to remember what I was supposed to accomplish. Of course it was lunchtime. Traffic was crazy. I am not sure why I wait until the actual birthday to do some things when I know it is coming for a whole year.

One of my stops was to pick up something in the mall. Now, I try to stay away from that place so, I was there when the stores opened in an effort to beat the crowd. I was on a mission for swimming frogs. Landon is allergic to animals and her heart has longed for a pet. My rule is it can't stink. So, while in a house recently to get ready to list, I saw these frogs that were in a cute little tank that has to be cleaned four times a year. The mom told me they were the best and zero trouble. That was the pet for me with our crazy schedule. So I headed to Brookstone with a "get in and get out" mindset. As I left the store toting this little tank with two tiny frogs, I had forgotten about the mall walkers. They were everywhere and they are serious about their pace and path. I felt like I was in the middle of a game of Frogger. How appropriate! I was dodging each walker as I watched the water in the tank slosh back and forth. I was sure I was going to kill those frogs just trying to get them to the car. I made it home to get the frogs hidden and was off again to another appointment.

I went to take pictures of a house to find that the camera battery was dead. I headed back home to get the battery charged as I worked on some paperwork. The frogs were still alive. In the meantime, calls were coming in like crazy and Ridley texted to say his flight was delayed.

The afternoon was topped off with picking one kid up from track, a screaming match with a hormonal 18 year old daughter, back out to pick up one from football, getting Landon to her dad for her weekly Wednesday night visit, rushing to be the 100th person in line for the free school sport physicals, then to rush the kids to youth group, and to swing through a nasty fast food drive thru for dinner for me and Ridley. (yuck)

In my frustration of feeling like a bad mother, the day ended GREAT. We pulled off the scavenger hunt. Landon classified the frogs as "a pet " (whew), my husband made it home to eat the nasty food, My 18 year old was speaking to me again and we ended up sitting in the floor of my closet late, laughing at baby pictures of Landon and my old hair styles. When I tucked Landon in to ask her about her day, she said it was great. She then informed me that if she got any money at her big family party, she wanted to give it to the church. The grin on her face wiped away the chaos of my day. The smile turned to an expression of concern as she asked, "Do you think Jesus will need ALL of it to pay daddy this week?"

All I could think about is how God's Word in Isaiah 55:8 reminds me "Your ways are not My ways, Lisa". I am so glad they are not!!!!!!