Why does life feel so dumb sometimes!?!?! Probably not how I should feel about this weekend but it was rough. Thursday night I was at a birthday celebration for Ashley when Brandon text and said Aubrey had thrown up twice. By the time I got home she was in bed but we needed to make a decision about the state tournament which the boys, Brandon, and I were suppose to leave for first thing in the morning.
Plan A had been to go up Friday to watch them play and then Saturday we'd stay for a game or 2 in the morning, depending on when game times were, but we were going to make sure to be home Saturday night so that we could wake up for Evie's birthday breakfast Sunday morning. We knew this would possibly mean missing the final match but we also knew Sadie probably wasn't going to get the opportunity to play. This seemed the best we could do to support all the kiddos.
However a kiddo throwing up threw a wrench in Plan A because who wants to drive 2 and a half hours with a sick kid? And who wants to watch a sick kid who's not their own? Heavy sigh....
So... Plan B: Friday morning the boys and I head over to Redmond hoping to catch a game or two before coming home and forfeiting our hotel room and the remainder of our trip.
But guess what?? Kids are NEVER predictable!!! So, in route Brandon calls and says Aubrey seems a little better. She ate and kept it down and this seems to confirm that perhaps she'd just eaten something that upset her tummy. Cuz ya I forgot to mention she'd fought me for the last few salami's in a bag that I wasn't 100% sure about. She didn't want the new ones and I thought they were fine but I did realize the night before that she'd had those and no one else had so it was possible that this was what had her throwing up a few hours later.
Anyway, Uncle Robert also called on the way and said that they would take our 4 girls. Too kind!!!! And we probably shouldn't have taken him up on it but my people pleasing self was about to loose it's mind as literally no one was happy and this would make quite a few people happy as long as we didn't get their family sick. So we said okay and moved to Plan C.
Plan C was for Robert to pick up the 4 girls and for me to race out of Sadie's first game, which they won, drive 100 miles back home to pick up Brandon so that we could be in the same car and then race 100 miles back to Redmond to try and catch her 8:00 p.m. game. Then we'd watch games Saturday morning and still head home Saturday afternoon/evening.
Well we got there just in time for their 2nd game and they won. Yay!!! EXCEPT I didn't understand how the brackets worked and a win meant they didn't play again until the championship game Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m. WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!!
So now I've driven a total of 300 miles, 7.5 hours, to watch 2 game, Brandon 1 game, in which our daughter never set foot on the court. I could have cried. Add to this a teenager who is now begging us to stay so that we can take her home after the championship match because she "thought" everyone was staying until Sunday but now she'll be riding the bus home alone, and this just turned into a nightmare. I cannot process!!
So Saturday morning I wake up feeling a little more sane and start making arrangements. I call Robert and Katie and arrange for the kids to go from Robert and Amanda's to Ryan and Katies. Mind you Aubrey is definitely sick. No more throwing up but running a low fever. So now we're exposing another too kind family to germs so that we can watch the last match and take Sadie home.
EXCEPT... wait for it... come morning said teenager asks if I can also take her boyfriend home and when I say no she says then maybe she'll just stay. Now Mom is ready to end someone!!!!!!
She does decide with some pressure to come home with us but it was a tough day. We were all tired. There was lots of well meaning advice given to me which just felt like judgement, and it was what should have been Dad's 65th birthday, leaving me missing him more than ever.
Thankfully our kind friends the Koontz offered to let the boys hang with them until the game so Brandon and I could go grab dinner and take a minute to remember Dad, and catch our breath, and cry, and then cheer on Sadie's team as they took 2nd in state, and then drive our tired selves back home to sleep for a few hours before picking up donuts and the rest of the girls in the morning for Evie's birthday.
Whew... I tell you some days your just looking to survive but it stinks because what you want to be doing is embracing it all and soaking it all in, but that's just not the way it always goes!
Missing you today Dad! No cute picture cuz we're in Redmond for a volleyball tournament cheering on your oldest grandchild's team. What I wouldn't give to have you here. To hear your steady voice reassuring me that God made me exactly who He wanted me to be and telling me that I'd survive 7 wonderful children who need everything I have to give EVERY SINGLE DAY! You would have understood, I'm certain, because you'd been there and you would have helped me to laugh.
Today I just miss you! I'm also so thankful for the family who has taken our littles, sick and all, so we could be here and for friends who love our bigs and gave us a chance to grab a burger in memory of you. #we'vegottime! You never cease to challenge me to rest in the sovereignty of God and in His unmerited grace.
Hanging out with Uncle Robert and Aunt 'Manda
Aubrey
Maddie
Auntie 'Manda spoils them and they think she's the best!
This has to be documented just because it's hilarious!!!
While waiting for Sadie to decide what she was going to do so that we could decide if we were heading home or staying for the last game we went into Sportsman's and Wyatt finally got to pick out the pellet gun he's been saving for.
2A State Championship 2024
So thankful we got to be a part of these memories and also thankful this weekend is over. Isn't that just how it goes sometimes...
