Horrible mother moment

Today we were planning on leaving first thing in the morning to go to Niabi Zoo. Ava was really excited to see the two baby giraffes that arrived last winter. So I put Ava in the car seat and opened up the back of my car to make room for her stroller. I started walking back to the shed to get the stroller, when I hear my car start. For a second, I freaked. But I realized Ava must have pushed my automatic starter on my key. She was so proud of herself when I walked back, her smile was huge. So I loaded the stroller and shut the door. When I went to open up the back door to get my keys, it was locked!!! I forgot that my car locks when the automatic start is used to protect it from getting stolen. No biggy, I have another set of keys in my purse. But my purse was also locked in the car. By this time, Ava starts crying because she realizes she is locked in the car. Here I thought I would be this fantastic mom by enforcing the car seat firmly, so Ava has never once gotten out of the car seat, so she can "stay safe". Well that totally backfired today. She wouldn't even attempt to try to get out and unlock the car. By this time I am panicking just a little. The only thing that made me feel at ease was that the AC was on, so she wasn't cooking in there. Like many families, we only use our cell phones. Yep, you guessed it, in my purse with my spare set of keys. So I run to our neighbors, but they aren't home and they just have cell phones as well. I had to resort to running to my other neighbor's house (some may remember him as the nosy neighbor :) ). They also weren't home. I knew where they kept there spare key to the garage, so I unlocked it and used their phone in the garage. I first called my mom, so she could at least stand outside the car and try to keep Ava from freaking out. No answer, are you kidding me!!! My mom only answers numbers that she recognizes on caller ID. I left a rather "colorful" message and called back :). Needless to say, she answered the second time. Once she got over, I started looking through the phonebook for a lock smith. Finally I remembered (another great reason to live in a small town) the girl who cuts my hair- her dad has his own car shop. I call him, and he comes right over. He got my car unlocked in less than two minutes. By this time Ava and I are both crying. Usually I'm pretty calm, but it seemed like everything just kept going wrong. "Kara's dad" as Ava calls him, refused any money. I now have to do some detective work to find out his favorite place to eat, so Ava can make him a card and maybe take his wife out on us. The entire day, Ava told her great tale about "Kara's dad" saving her to whoever would listen. After I get over feeling like a horrible mom, I'll have to post some pics of the zoo trip.

Mother's Day Traditions

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. Even though I look forward to Mother's Day every year, I will have to admit I was dreading this one. I felt like something was missing because there was. Anyway, I thought I would tell everyone about our Mother's Day tradition. Every year we gather at my Great- Aunt's house. We celebrate almost everything here, it's just where everyone ends up I guess. However, this holiday comes with rules. Rule #1: Husbands, boyfriends, and significant others are not allowed, or as Ava told Danny, "it's a girls only party, dad". It sounds harsh, but it is so nice to be surrounded by strong, funny, witty women.

Rule #2: Everyone has to make their mother a place card, so they know where to sit. Ava picked out what we were going to make for Grandma. :)

My mom is such a good sport. You can't tell but Ava wrote (with some help), "princess grandma" on it. She made one for my Grandma too, but she was being a little bit of a party pooper.

Rule #3: Every year we have a different theme that is announced at the previous year's party, so we have a whole year to plan. Well, this year was "Look what I made/Look what I found". This is what my mom made. Aren't they so neat looking. I kind of slacked off with taking pictures of the other gifts. Ava of course wanted to paint something, so I found little canvases that she painted and glued magnets on the back to make refrigerator magnets. We also had some neat kitchen gadgets, books, umbrellas that fasten onto wagons (for us moms with little ones), and plants just to name a few.

Rule #4: Every woman/girl has to make a dish to pass along with an appropriate name.

There was also a lot of yummy desserts, but I was too busy eating them to get any pics:)

Rule #5: Every child makes their mom's plate ( for the many times that moms must serve their starving kiddos first)

Rule #6: Mom's must clean their plate (for the many times that kiddos hear this rule)
This is my great aunt and grandma, can't tell they're sisters, huh? :)

Ava enjoying the fun conversations.

Of course Ava and Chloe had to test out the umbrella's their momma's got.

Do you see the necklace that I'm wearing? Danny got me this and had some of Gracie's ashes put into it. It is so beautiful and makes me feel so comforted. I love it!

Even though this Mother's Day was a little rough, it was a lot of fun. I'm already starting to think of ideas for next year's theme: "what every girl needs". Any suggestions?

Going Back

To work that is. Thursday was my first day back to work. I have to admit, I have been so nervous to go back. I hadn't been able to sleep for the past week. But I stressed for nothing! It was so great getting back into the swing of things. It was nice to have something to distract me from thinking. I was a little slow at things, but I'm sure it won't take too long before I'm "good as new" :). The new charting program, even though I don't like it and it has its flaws, wasn't that hard to get the basics down.
Everyone was so nice. Before I thought I didn't want anyone to bring it up to me or give me words of encouragement. I found that it's even harder when people act like nothing happened and don't say anything. A coworker ( who has helped me sooo much with her words, prayers, and own experiences) said it perfectly, "you're grieving a loss, but they aren't acknowledging it".
One blessing out if this is I have gotten closer to some of my best friends and have found a closeness in others I never found before. I am so lucky to work with such amazing people. It's hard to put it into words. I work with some of the most awesome men and women. These people are so great at what they do. It's more than a job to us, it's our life. We treat these kids and their families as if they were our own children and family. My coworkers are more than just people I work with, they are my friends who I dearly love, admire, and am so, so thankful for. Wow, isn't God great for creating such angels on earth!!!