Miss Ellie had her 8th birthday. That's a big one! On the "even" birthdays in our family they get a friend party and on the "odd" birthdays they get a family activity. (Great idea, thanks Kristi!) Anyway, Ellie got her big friend party. They also get to invite as many friends as they are old (so eight, for her 8th, you get the idea. Usually a couple extra because they don't all come at once: until this year...)
She wanted a "Wild Animal Rescue" party. We came up with some great games, like rescue the animals buried in the sand box. Animal charades. Catch the lion by the tail. Beat the poor penguin pinata to death (okay, so that wasn't so much a rescue as a greedy dive for candy but when you're 8 ethics only go so far.)
She picked out the little animal ears to give to all the friends and was SOOOOO excited.
Here is the crew. What a fun bunch of kids!
And the cake.
This is Ellie's best friend Sammie. They have matching shirts and made sure they wore them both to the party. Guess what their favorite activity is at school? You got it: Monkey bars. The kids had a great time and all in all it went fine.
Now let me back up to the beginning of the day...
The schedule was thus: McKenna had a soccer game which she had to be there at 9AM. She got a ride with her coach and her game was over at 1:00. Ellie had a soccer game that started at 1:30. At 3:30 it was her party. This might all seem like a lot but during soccer season it is a typical Saturday for us. No biggie, we can pull it all off. Well that morning Dee had gone to spruce off the patio for the party and tweaked his back. When I say tweaked I mean he made it inside to the floor and couldn't take a deep breath and couldn't move. He had strained it a bit earlier that week at a soccer practice and I guess moving stuff on the patio was the proverbial straw. He was in so much pain. You know that helplessness you feel when your loved one is in so much pain and you can't do a dang thing about it? Ugg. We ended up calling our Home Teachers for a blessing and they came without hesitation. They recommended calling an ambulance because we could not get him up without causing more pain. He couldn't even take a deep breath. It had been about 1 1/2 hours since he tweaked it so when I called 911 and they asked my emergency...well...if you've seen the Brian Regan skit you know what I'm talking about. If not look it up, it's on Netflix. Anyway the First Responders came in a big green fire truck followed by an ambulance. Luckily for you guys my reaction/coping mechanism for stress is humor and I was cracking jokes and taking pictures. Did I mention I'm not sure why he's stuck with me all these years? Lucky girl, I tell you.
I dropped the kids at my best friend Barb's house and by now I'm officially in freak out stage. The whole way to the ER I'm doing that angry/frustrated/scared prayer of "Let him be okay (number one, biggest) and the least you could do is let me live by family. I NEED FAMILY! I can't do today by myself! Let him be okay!" etc. etc. *Little disclaimer here: Dee's brother Gordon and my nephew Brian were coming up from Sac to watch the girls play soccer. I knew this but at the time it wasn't all getting into place yet. Blinded by stress at this point. The disclaimer is Heavenly Father and I have a relationship where I occasionally freak out about things and blame Him and in his infinite patience and love for me He doesn't strike me down for talking to Him like that.* Meanwhile, we hang out in the ER with a Dr with terrible bedside manner and little information from anyone, but they manage (after 2 1/2 hours) to calm his back enough to breath again. Dee is saying "Say 8" to everyone he passes (you NEED to watch the Brian Regan skit!) After about 6 hours there they let him come home.
During this time Gordon and Brian arrive at McKenna's game. They bring her home and take Ellie to her game. Barb has the other kids and they are all cared for and loved. We get Dee home and in bed. He'll survive. It was a strained/pulled muscle. If he can rest and recover he'll be fine. Gordon and Brian come back from the game and help me get things together for the party. Barb brings the kids home and stays to help until it's all running smoothly. *I say another prayer. This one is much more humble and filled with gratitude. We had numerous people from our church call to check on us. I know Gordon was inspired to come up that certain weekend. I know Barb is always there and would do anything she can. She IS family. I know there is a plan, sometimes it's just hard for me to see past the moment. As I mentioned, in His great patience and love he forgives me - yet again.*
For the great wrap-up: Ellie had a great birthday. Dee's back is 100%. Thank Heaven's for it all.
