Happy 50th!

Things never do go according to plan here.......take Saturday night. We had planned to go to see my father-in-law's band play and also celebrate my Mother-in-law's birthday with her there. They were to start playing at 8. Tom was working for a friend that day and he told him that he needed to leave early. So naturally Tom didn't even walk in the door at home until 7:30. Did I mention that the band was playing an hour away from us? And that Tom still needed to shower (so did I, actually) and get gas and cigarrettes. He also had to clear a little room so Maree could sit in the van. Plus there's the matter of loading everyone in the car. That always ends up taking longer than it should. And it was taking longer than it was supposed to anyway-all the kids had their baths that day-I've learned to postpone them as long as possible before an event-but Justin managed to decorate his leg and face with some markers after the bath anyway. Maree ignored my repeated requests to brush her hair, and then argued with me over wanting to "help" give Leanna her bath. I'm carrying the baby with me as I go up and down the steps getting clothes and shoes for various people. I've gathered all the birthday cards I had the kids make(hense the markers!), plus the official cards, and part of the birthday present. Luckily I managed to get the diaper bag packed earlier in the day. Although Maree discovered the candy I had emptied out of it(from Jerry's daughter's pinata!) and then there was the hassle of making it dissapear and keeping anyone from having a meltdown because they couldn't have the candy. Everyone's hungry at this point(we had a light supper) but there's no time to eat! Somewhere in the van is an apple peeler that Leanna insisted on bringing along for the apple she took one bite out of anyway. Justin (Finally!) fell asleep right before we left and was not happy to be woken to go out to the van. Timothy was crying because-like his brother and sister before him-he hates sitting in that car seat. And this time he cried all the way to the concert! I even made Tom stop for a few minutes so I could feed him, but that didn't stop the crying. We didn't know where we were going and Tom got lost and his Mom told him to turn the wrong direction anyway......we were all a bit crabby by the time we got there. All the kids but Timothy were sleeping, though he did finally fall asleep right as we got there. It was short-lived. When we walked in the kids had just woken up and it was crowded and so cold and LOUD. Justin and Timothy were terrified! Timothy cried when anyone just looked at him. Leanna became completely shy and wouldn't say hi or look at the people who tried to talk to her. Poor Nanny wanted nothing more than to run around showing off her grandkids but the only one who would cooperate was Maree! And there was only a little more than an hour of the show left. What a night!

But the band was good and the crowd seemed to be having a great time. Someone had brought a birthday cake and they sang to the two? or three? people all having a birthday. And we got to see Nanny Sue do the twist-she's surprisingly limber for a woman a half century old! And Leanna got a kick out of saying hi to Pop-Pop while he was singing and playing. I couldn't even get Justin to look at Pop-Pop playing! We'll have to go to another concert. Preferably earlier, closer, and an outdoor one. That way we can stay farther back so it's not hurting our ears and the kids can relax and adjust before meeting a bunch of strangers. But we did all enjoy the outing company.